When the Mets signed Jonathan Villar this offseason, he joined a crowded infield with no obvious path to regular playing time.

Forty-four games into the season, he has played the second-most games on the team.

At a time when the Mets have been besieged by injuries, Villar has taken on an everyday job at third base and delivered solid results with his bat, glove and aggressive baserunning to help keep them afloat.

“He’s been great for this team,” manager Luis Rojas said Friday before the game between the Mets and Braves was postponed. “First of all, our front office getting this guy, he’s a great National League player. … Everything he’s done defensively, everything he’s done offensively, from getting game-winning hits, getting an extra base, stealing a bag, scoring on a contact play from third on a walk-off, all those things have been extra.

“I didn’t expect to use him as much as we’re using him, because of the situation we are in right now, but he’s responded so well to not playing every day at the start of the season and now getting the chance. He’s just been ready the whole time and he’s been effective.”

In 41 games — behind only Francisco Lindor’s 43 — Villar has hit .231 with a 99 OPS-plus. But he was beginning to heat back up at the plate this week, hitting 5-for-12 in his past four games. He has also provided clutch at-bats along the way, including a walk-off single against the Phillies in April, and three of his four home runs have given the Mets a lead.

Since J.D. Davis went on the injured list May 2, Villar has started 21 of 23 games at third base. Before this season, he had not started a game at the hot corner since 2016, which is why the Mets made it a point to give him a heavy workload there in spring training.

Villar flashed the leather Thursday, making a diving stab on a ground ball to his left and firing to first to rob C.J. Cron of a hit against Jeurys Familia in the sixth inning of a 2-1 game.

The veteran utilityman has also been active on the basepaths, leading the Mets with five stolen bases and three caught stealings — two of which came in Tuesday’s win over the Rockies.

“The next day I told him, ‘No one’s gonna take that away from you. That’s your game. That’s how you’re going to play, that’s how this team is going to play,’ ” Rojas said. “We gotta push the envelope right now. We gotta look to create scoring scenarios, we gotta look to create runs. … He has to be aggressive. That’s the way he’s going to help us score more runs.”