Carlos Villanueva, We Hardly Knew Yee

In 2006 he pitched in 10 games, which is pretty good for a young kid in his first try at the big league’s.  His ERA was nothing to write home about, but batters only hit .216 against him over 53 innings.  He started 6 games and went 2-2, too which I say again, pretty good for a young kid in his first shot at the show.    Then 2007 rolled along, he played in 59 games while only starting in 6 of those games.  Ironically, the same number of starts he had the year before.  His ERA was worse, but he did record 99 strikouts in 114 innings.  These two seasons sort of represent why we all, myself included, thought this kid could be a star in the major’s.

2008 is one of the finest seasons in all of Milwaukee Brewers history, but Chuckles stumbled in his new found role as a reliever.  That season he surrendered 112 hits in 108 innings and his ERA breached the 4.0 mark.  At this point pretty much every Brewer fan was on cloud 9, so we let it slide and hoped 2009 would be better.  WRONG.  We were all so blinded by the playoff appearance we couldn’t see what was about to happen.  In the year 2009, CV went 4-10 with a 5.34 ERA in only 96 innings of work.  That is a bar league softball pitching record!!  He gave up 57 earned runs in 96 innings, that breaksdown to this stat: 59.3% of the batters he faced that year were going to score.  Thus the Tower of Pisa begins to lean further to the right.

Last and probably least was 2010, in which he really showed no growth.  Pitched 52 innings, gave up 48 hits, 27 runs, and a craptacular 4.61 ERA.  Baseball really is a game of chance sometimes.  At a young age a ballplayer can look like the next Nolan Ryan, but that does not mean they will be.

One little bright spot for our old pal, his strikeout to walk numbers are insane.  In his Brewers career he struck out 381 and only walked 151 batters.  That statistic is impressive, yet confusing.  How could a kid with those kind of strikeout numbers be so bad at pitching?  Anyway, I wish him luck in Canada.  Sure hope he likes mayo and gravy on his french fries.  In turn I hope our new player, who shall remain nameless, is ready for some cheese and Miller Lite.

If you want to read a really unique breakdown of 20 relief pitchers check out this article on Call to the Pen.  You will find Carlos Villanueva and John Axford on the list.  Take a look, it might blow your mind.  (Ax is a gangster)

As always, I’d like to thank you for reading.  I would also like to pay my quick respects to Ron Santo.  Not just a great baseball guy, but a true fan of the game we all love.  Goodnight sweet prince of the Northside, you will be missed by anyone who calls themselves a baseball fan.  I leave you with this quote, “The emotion for me is strictly the love I have for this team.  I want them to win so bad.”