Atomic RoadRunners | Andrew Flynn’s High-Energy Fantasy Baseball

Carlos Villanueva will remain in the rotation, even with Yovani Gallardo returning from the DL on Sunday. It’ll be David Bush and not Villanueva or Manny Parra moving to the bullpen. If Ben Sheets can’t make his scheduled start on Wednesday, Bush would get the spot start, the Brewers’ telecast reported on Sunday. (Rotowire)

John Sickels reviewed Carlos Villanueva in his “Not a Prospect” series on Minor League Ball.  The series should really be entitled “No Longer a Prospect, as They’re Young But No Longer Qualify for Rookie-of-the-Year Voting” or similar.  Some excerpts:

Villanueva opened 2006 in Double-A and pitched well; he continued pitching well in Triple-A, then ended the season with 53.2 strong innings for the Brewers. Last year he pitched 114 innings for Milwaukee with a 3.94 ERA. In 168 career innings entering 2008, Villanueva has a 138/64 K/BB with 144 hits allowed and a 3.86 ERA.

What does the future hold?

PECOTA seems to hate him, giving him a collapse rate of 60% entering 2008. His comparables list includes scary comps like Todd Van Poppel and Ken Cloude, but also a few more successful guys like Mudcat Grant and Moe Drabowsky. Although in the rotation right now, my personal belief is that he is best utilized in the long relief/spot starter role, and that as a full-time starter he would be more likely to get overexposed and fail.

Villanueva is a Grade C/C+ prospect made good, and I tend to root for guys like this. If he stays healthy I think he will have a mixture of good and bad seasons, the kind of guy who will post a 6.00 ERA in a bad year, drift to another team, then turn things around quickly and post a 3.00 mark in a limited role, before being overexposed and struggling again. In the end I think Villanueva balances out as an average major league pitcher overall, but that’s not an insult, and he gives hope to every guy in Double-A who has average stuff and is looking for a break.

Hmm, perhaps I should have said “$6″ on Manny Parra instead.

Carlos Villanueva allowed five earned runs in 4 2/3 innings on Wednesday night to take his second loss. Villanueva allowed two walks and two home runs, and didn’t strike out a single batter. Villanueva’s ERA rose to 6.19 Wednesday and he has now lost his last two starts after winning April 4 against the Giants. The Brewers are bringing Yovani Gallardo off the DL in the coming days and somebody will get bumped from the rotation. Villanueva is a candidate, along with Dave Bush and Manny Parra. Villanueva has experience as a reliever, so he could easily get moved back to the bullpen. For now, he is on track to start in a rematch with the Cardinals Monday, but that could all change in a moment’s notice. Stay tuned. (Rotoworld)

Carlos Villanueva held the Reds hitless into the fifth inning in his latest start Thursday afternoon against Cincinnati, when he gave up a single to Scott Hatteberg and an RBI double by Paul Bako. Villanueva lasted six innings, gave up seven hits, four runs, three walks and struck out four. He took his first loss of the season as he was out-dueled by Aaron Harang. Villanueva tied a career high with six strikeouts in his first start of the season and looked decent in his second start despite the loss. It didn’t help that Harang went eight innings and allowed just one run in the game. The Brewers look like a contender very early on this season and that makes Villanueva worth a flier even in mixed leagues while he can hold a rotation spot. His next start is slated for April 16 at St. Louis. (CBS Sports)

Memo to Ned Yost: your owner and GM spent a bunch of money to bring in four new relievers in the offseason and there’s currently five guys in the Milwaukee pen capable of going multiple innings. So why do the non-Ben Sheets starting pitchers keep getting chances to blow games? Villanueva was fine through six today, so maybe he deserved a chance to start the seventh. However, it shouldn’t have taken five straight hits — the second a homer — to finally get him replaced. Yost has done nice things with the lineup this year, and it’s encouraging that he’s realized Derrick Turnbow shouldn’t be the No. 2 man in the pen. Still, he’s failing miserably at knowing when to make that first pitching change. (Rotoworld)

Carlos Villanueva earned a win after allowing two runs in 5 1/3 innings Friday against the Giants.  Villanueva had a shutout going into the sixth, when he allowed four straight hits, including the Giants third and fourth extra-base knocks of the year. He struck out six before that, including the pitcher twice to bail himself out of jams. It was a solid first outing, but it would have been nice to see him show a little more stamina. Getting through six against the Giants isn’t too much to ask.  Villanueva pitched his way into the rotation this spring with a 2.63 ERA in six outings (four starts) spanning 24 innings. He also had 17 strikeouts. The Brewers look like a contender very early on this season and that makes Villanueva worth a flier even in mixed leagues while he can hold a rotation spot. His next start is slated for April 10 against Cincinnati. (Rotoworld, CBS Sports)

FAAB Acquisition:

• Blake DeWitt, 3B, Los Angeles ($0 bid)

Up:

• 3B Blake DeWitt to Utility
• C Javier Valentin
• P Carlos Villanueva
• P Zach Duke
• P Jason Marquis

Down:

• U Scott Hatteberg
• P Peter Moylan
• P Tony Pena
• P Jon Lieber

Cut:

• 2B Emilio Bonifacio

From Baseball Prospectus’s Kevin Goldstein yesterday:

Don’t Believe The Hype: What does Emilio Bonifacio offer other than game-changing speed and good glovework at second? Not a whole heckuva lot. He needs to develop a more patient approach, or he’s going to hit towards the bottom of a lineup.

Emilio, we hardly knew you.