Carlos Villanueva (baseball)

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Villanueva and the second or maternal family name is Paulino.

Carlos Villanueva
Toronto Blue Jays – No. 33
Starting pitcher
Born: November 28, 1983 (1983-11-28)
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 23, 2006 for the Milwaukee Brewers
Career statistics (through 2011 Season)
Win-Loss	26-28
Earned run average	4.28
Strikeouts	449
WHIP	1.30
Teams
Milwaukee Brewers (2006–2010) Toronto Blue Jays (2011–present)

Carlos Manuel Villanueva Paulino (born November 28, 1983, in Santiago, Dominican Republic) is a right-handed Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Baseball career

2004–2008

Villanueva was signed by the San Francisco Giants in 2002. He was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers on March 30, 2004, for pitchers Wayne Franklin and Leo Estrella.

As he worked his way through the Brewers' farm system, Villanueva was called up to the Brewers from Double-A Huntsville on May 22, 2006. He made his Major League debut against the Cincinnati Reds on May 23, 2006, pitching a scoreless inning. After being optioned back to the minors, Villanueva was recalled again, making his first career Major League start for the Brewers against the Cincinnati Reds.

After a successful 2006 campaign, Villanueva entered the 2007 spring training in competition for the Brewers fifth spot in the starting rotation. Despite pitching well, he lost the job to Claudio Vargas. Instead, manager Ned Yost elected to put Villanueva into the bullpen as a middle relief pitcher. Villanueva pitched well in his new role and was occasionally used as a long relief pitcher when Elmer Dessens was placed on the DL. On July 2, Villanueva was 6-0 with a 2.64 ERA. Despite his record, Villanueva was accustomed to only being used as a starting pitcher, and had never appeared in more than 25 games in his professional career. Through July and August, he posted a 1-3 record with an ERA of over 9, perhaps a sign of being overworked. Despite his struggles, he was still being used as a middle relief pitcher. On August 20, after pitching 3 perfect innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks and picking up his first career save, he was optioned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds to make two starts to "polish up" for a September call up when the rosters expand.

2009-present

Villanueva spent a short part of the 2009 season as the closer while Trevor Hoffman recovered on the disabled list; however, after poor performances, the role was given to Todd Coffey instead.

On December 3, 2010, Villanueva was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later (cash).

After starting the season in the bullpen for the Blue Jays, he was moved to a position in the starting rotation to fill in for open spots previously filled by Brett Cecil and Jesse Litsch. On August 4, 2011, Villanueva was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right forearm strain. Villanueva was re-activated from the disabled list on August 31. Brian Tallet was designated for assignment to make room for Villanueva.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)