Jonathan Villar #5

Name is pronounced "vee-YAR"...Played third base as a boy in the Dominican Republic, but moved over to shortstop, where he has played the majority of his Major League career at the urging of his mother, Rosa.....his mother was a softball player who now lives in Italy.....she also played shortstop.

Batted .285 with 19 HR, 63 RBI and a Major League-leading 62 stolen bases in 156 games during his first season with Milwaukee...Made 152 starts (104g at SS, 40g at 3B, 8g at 2B).....48 of his last 53 starts came at third base (40g) or second base (8g) following the 8/2 promotion of SS Orlando Arcia...Led the team in at-bats (589), runs (92), hits (168), doubles (38), walks (79), stolen bases (62) and on-base percentage (.369)...Batted .276 (117-for-424, 11hr) as a left-handed hitter and .309 (51-for-165, 8hr) right-handed..Joined Tommy Harper (1969) and Scott Podsednik (2004) as the only players in franchise history to lead the Major Leagues in stolen bases.....recorded the third season of 60+ steals in franchise history, joining Harper (73 in 1969) and Podsednik (70 in 2004)...Became the first player in the Major Leagues to produce 15 HR and 60 SB in a season since Carl Crawford (15hr/60sb) with Tampa Bay in 2009...Ranked among the National League leaders in walks (T8th, 79) and doubles (T9th, 38) Walked in 9 consecutive games (10 total walks) from 5/24-6/1, tying a franchise record with Darrell Porter (1975), Darryl Hamilton (1995) and John Jaha (1998)...Belted leadoff homers on 6/4 at Philadelphia, 9/6 vs. Chicago-NL and 9/28 at Texas.....now has 4 career leadoff homers (also 9/10/13 at Seattle)...Smacked his first career grand slam on 9/4 at Pittsburgh off Juan Nicasio .....became the sixth player in franchise history to produce a pinch-hit grand slam...Homered from both sides of the plate on 9/7 vs. Chicago-NL.....became the fourth player in franchise history to accomplish that feat...Named Brewers Player of the Month for May (29g, .355, 1hr, 16rbi, 14sb, .482slg, .450obp)...Following the season played for Cibao in the Dominican Winter League.

Batted .284 with 2 HR and 11 RBI in 53 games with Houston…Had three stints with the Astros (Opening Day-4/22, 4/28-6/9 and 9/1-end)…Made 28 starts (18g at SS, 8g at 3B, 2g in LF)…Batted .302 (16-for-53, 1hr) as a left-handed hitter and .270 (17-for-63, 1hr) right-handed…Belted his first career pinch-hit homer on 9/5 at Oakland with a solo shot off Felix Doubront…Appeared as a pinch-runner in the Wild Card Game on 10/6 at New York.....stole a base and scored in the Astros' 3-0 victory…Batted .271 with 5 HR, 32 RBI and 35 stolen bases (led the Pacific Coast League) in 70 games at Triple-A Fresno…Following the season played for Aguilas in the Dominican Winter League…Was traded to Milwaukee on 11/19 in exchange for RHP Cy Sneed.

Began the year with the Major League club for the first time in his career and started on Opening Day at shortstop...had two stints with Houston and served as the club's everyday shortstop to start the season, before being optioned to Triple A Oklahoma City...played in a career-high 86 games and made 78 starts, all at shortstop...after a hot start, was optioned to OKC on June 30...played in 51 games with OKC before being recalled on Sept. 2 where he remained through the season, making 12 starts...blasted a three-run homer off knuckle-baller RHP R.A. Dickey on April 10 at TOR...the three RBI marked a career high...on April 19 at OAK, became the first Astros shortstop since IF Miguel Tejada on April 21, 2008, to record at least two extra-base hits, two runs scored and a stolen base in the same game...through April 22, had not committed an error in his 85 total chances and ranked tied for first among MLB shortstops in fielding (1.000) and fifth in assists (59)...went 2x3 with a double and a two-run triple April 27 vs. OAK...became the first Astros shortstop since IF Adam Everett in 2006 to record a double and a triple while scoring at least two runs in a single game...snapped an 0x26 run with an RBI-double that plated the game winning run in the 7th on May 31 vs. BAL...per Elias, the last group of players that ended a single-season hitless streak of that length with a hit that produced a game winning RBI: IF Hanley Ramirez (2012), C Mike Piazza (2006) and C Miguel Olivo (2005)...hit .258 (49x190) with 24 steals, 27 RBI and a .363 OBP in 51 games at Triple A OKC...played in 38 games for the Aguilas Cibaenas in the Dominican Winter League following the season, hitting .233 (30x129) with three home runs, 13 RBI and eight steals.

Last name is pronounced: vee-YAR. Signed with Philadelphia as a 17-year-old amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic on May 20, 2008...signed by Phillies scout Sal Agostinelli. IN THE COMMUNITY: This offseason, Jonathan held a baseball camp for the "La Barranca" Little League in his hometown of La Vega, DR...Jonathan, who played in La Barranca Little League when he was growing up in the Dominican, hosted 150 kids and spoke to them about the importance of hard work on the field and being a positive influence in the community...he gave away some Astros promo items as well as baseball equipment ... Jonathan plans to hold this event every offseason going forward. Added to the Astros 40-man roster on Nov. 20, 2012...is currently signed to one-year contract that runs thru the 2014 season.