'La Tortuga' Is Here to Save Baseball

[RALPH MALPH]

NY Times:
FORT MYERS, Fla.—It’s no secret that baseball’s grip on the collective imagination of the country has slipped. Football is the national sport now. Basketball is king with the social-media generation. Though America’s pastime isn’t dying, the long-term trend lines are worrisome.



But against all odds, there is a player in the Upper Midwest who is capable of healing what ails the game. His name is Willians Astudillo, and he is here to save baseball.

Astudillo is a 27-year-old rookie who toiled in the minors for a decade. He might not make the Minnesota Twins’ 25-man roster out of spring training. His physique, short and rotund, is charitably described as “sturdy,” earning him the moniker of La Tortuga—The Turtle.


It turns out that this turtle is also something of a unicorn. Astudillo has a strange skill set in today’s major leagues: He actually hits the ball. Fifty-nine players struck out more before the All-Star break last season than Astudillo has in his entire minor-league career.

This man is baseball’s most unlikely, yet most reliable, viral sensation. In a game last September, his mad dash from first to home in 11.63 seconds—cheeks puffing, tongue dangling, long, curly hair swept in the wind—was like “Chariots of Fire”-meets beer-league softball. Astudillo said later he “wanted to show that chubby people also run.”

Then in January, Astudillo brought the internet to a standstill when video surfaced of a home run he hit in Venezuelan winter ball for Caribes de Anzoátegui. When the ball came off his bat, he kneeled at the plate, leaning on the bat handle, twisting his body to will the ball fair—then made a chest-thumping, primal-screaming circuit of the bases. It might sound like Reggie Jackson arrogance, but it played as unbridled joy. The replay has been in heavy rotation in the Twins’ clubhouse this spring.


“I’m being myself,” La Tortuga said here this week. “I’m just being Willians Astudillo.”

Baseball needs help. The games are too long. Last season featured more strikeouts than hits for the first time. The gap between balls in play is nearing four minutes. Marketing the game to the public—even with a historic supply of superhuman young talent around the league—is rough going. Mike Trout might go down as one of the best players ever, but how many people would recognize him walking down the street?

Astudillo can help fix these problems. He’s different in his appearance (shocking in its normalcy) and has a very particular set of skills (which are almost impossible to fathom). In a league where the players blend together in an ocean of chiseled muscularity and perfectly fitted caps, there is nobody else like him.

“What people love is an authenticity in any player,” said Derek Falvey, the Twins’ chief baseball officer. “He seems like an everyman.”

That much becomes clear the moment Astudillo emerges from the dugout. Standing at 5-foot-9 and listed—perhaps generously—at 225 pounds, Astudillo doesn’t scream “world-class athlete.” He looks like more like a mall Santa with a membership to LA Fitness.

Fans respond to to his appearance. When you see New York Yankees 6-foot-7 behemoth Aaron Judge, for instance, “you look at him and you think, ‘That is a different human being than me,’” Falvey said. In Astudillo, people see somebody who resembles themselves, only capable of excelling at the highest level of a sport.

“He’s the overly short, maybe a little-too-wide guy that you want to cheer for,” said John Bonnes, a founder of the website Twins Daily and host of a Twins fan podcast. “It’s easier to relate to guys who don’t spend every minute they have in the gym, who occasionally order some mac and cheese.”

The term “face of baseball” usually conjures up the image of a square-jawed, stony-faced specimen. Maybe Astudillo is the face baseball was looking for all along.

“He has charisma,” said Rafael Gruszka, the president of Astudillo’s Venezuelan team. “He plays with his heart like nobody I’ve ever seen,”

Given all this, it might be easy to cast Astudillo aside as a sideshow act. He decidedly isn’t that. After cycling through three other organizations, Astudillo signed as a minor-league free agent with the Twins in November 2017 and finally received a major-league opportunity. He took full advantage, going 33-for-93 (.355) with four doubles, a triple and three home runs.

He also offers defensive versatility. Though a catcher by trade, Astudillo appeared at third base, second base, center field, left field and pitcher for the Twins last season, making him a potentially valuable asset.

“The one thing to keep in mind about Willians is that he’s a good player,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s the topic of conversation a lot, but it’s usually for very positive on-field things.”

Of course, a useful utility man isn’t enough to repair baseball. That comes from one specific ability he has: Astudillo is the answer to baseball’s pace-of-play conundrum. When Astudillo steps up, you can all but guarantee he will quickly put the ball in play.

Astudillo has 2,461 minor-league plate appearances since debuting at age 17 in 2009. He has struck out a grand total of 81 times. That is not a typo. Nothing changed in the majors, where Astudillo struck out three times in 97 plate appearances. Astudillo doesn’t walk, either, by the way, drawing all of 85 minor-league bases-on-balls, nine of which were doled out intentionally. His career batting average is .306.

These are bat-to-ball skills that nobody else in baseball can even dream about. Falvey said Astudillo “breaks the mold when it comes to projection systems, because there aren’t people who look like him in terms of the profile.”

“That’s the root of bias,” Falvey said. “At some point you just have to remove yourself from the bias associated with how a guy looks or moves or acts. Look at what he is and appreciate him for what he is, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Astudillo says he doesn’t know where his magic contact skills originated. His dad always told him to be aggressive at the plate, and he took that advice to heart. Other than that, he can’t explain it. He just knows that if the ball is anywhere in his ZIP Code, he will find a way to hit it, often with authority.

It’s just another chapter to add to the Legend of La Tortuga. He might not be the best player in baseball. But he just might be the player that baseball desperately needs right now.

“I just go out onto the field, enjoy myself and enjoy the game, and that’s why the fans engage with me,” Astudillo said. “It’s because I’m being myself. I’m not trying to be anybody else.”

[weimy froob]

great hand-eye coordination to be able to put the bat on the ball like that. i hope he makes the team.

[RALPH MALPH]

great hand-eye coordination to be able to put the bat on the ball like that. i hope he makes the team.

it's easy to pull for guys like this

[Cripes]

Viva La Tortuga!

[bubu dubu.]

Willians Astudillo is baseball.

Also, he is Bartolo Colon's son.

[salamander]

Love the nickname.

[Ask Not]

The world needs more characters. In.

[weimy froob]

https://www.mlb.com/twins/video/astudil ... 2523405983

[RALPH MALPH]

https://www.mlb.com/twins/video/astudil ... 2523405983

I looked like Kobe Bryant

man i hope he makes the squad

[beetlebum71]

If Tyler Austin keeps hitting like he is right now, La Tortuga will be saving the Internationa League in a couple weeks.

[Sidewinder2k2]

Willians Astudillo is baseball.

Also, he is Bartolo Colon's son.

I really wish that were true. Fat guys can still get it done in baseball.

[weimy froob]

[flexbuffchest]

Astudillo has 2,461 minor-league plate appearances since debuting at age 17 in 2009. He has struck out a grand total of 81 times

[weimy froob]

[weimy froob]

[Hornets]

SO fun to watch this fellow! Hope he is on the final roster and is involved in meaningful games throughout the season!!

[HeHateMe]

Cut Castro!

[RALPH MALPH]

Willians Astudillo went 2-for-5 with a run scored in Sunday's Grapefruit League contest against the Yankees.
Astudillo is a fan favorite, and he showed why again Sunday when he raced around from first base to score on a ball to the left field corner. He's now hitting .306 in 49 at-bats this spring, playing all over the diamond in his bid to win a roster spot

[jffl_commish]

He hasn't struck out or walked. That dude is a legend!

[salamander]

Oh, I like his bat motion.

[salamander]

In all reality, when is La Tortuga going to hit the bigs?

[beetlebum71]

In all reality, when is La Tortuga going to hit the bigs?

He is on the opening day roster and he had a bunch of at bats for the big club last year.

[Ask Not]

In all reality, when is La Tortuga going to hit the bigs?

He is on the opening day roster and he had a bunch of at bats for the big club last year.

C'mon, Sal. We're on the verge of opening day. It's time to pick up your game.

[salamander]

In all reality, when is La Tortuga going to hit the bigs?

He is on the opening day roster and he had a bunch of at bats for the big club last year.

C'mon, Sal. We're on the verge of opening day. It's time to pick up your game.

I quit watching last year at a certain point because I'm sick of this shit the Twins pull to lower salary.

[beetlebum71]

He is on the opening day roster and he had a bunch of at bats for the big club last year.

C'mon, Sal. We're on the verge of opening day. It's time to pick up your game.

I quit watching last year at a certain point because I'm sick of this shit the Twins pull to lower salary.

Stop worrying about the owners and just cheer for the players.

[jffl_commish]

Especially this one!

[Small Hands]

Highest batting avg in MLB history for a player with at least 100 AB's.

DFA Castro tomorrow!!

[minnemike]

Cut Castro!

[weimy froob]

[The Replacements]

Why did he get thrown at yesterday?