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Christian Villanueva

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Villanueva and the second or maternal family name is Limón.
Christian Villanueva
Christian Villanueva with the Chicago Cubs in 2013 Spring Training
Sultanes de Monterrey – No. 14
Third baseman
Born: (1991-06-19) June 19, 1991 (age 33)
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Professional debut
MLB: September 18, 2017, for the San Diego Padres
NPB: March 31, 2019, for the Yomiuri Giants
MLB statistics
(through 2018 season)
Batting average.245
Home runs24
Runs batted in53
NPB statistics
(through 2020 season)
Batting average.222
Home runs12
Runs batted in43
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  Mexico
Premier12
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Tokyo National team

Christian Iván Villanueva Limón (born June 19, 1991), nicknamed "Villa",[1] is a Mexican professional baseball third baseman for the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Yomiuri Giants and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Villanueva won the National League's Rookie of the Month Award for April 2018.

Career

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Texas Rangers

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Villanueva signed with the Texas Rangers as an international free agent on August 17, 2008.[2] He missed the part of the 2009 season after having knee surgery, following his professional debut with the Dominican Summer League Rangers.[3] Villanueva spent 2010 with the rookie-level Arizona League Rangers, batting .314/.365/.431 with two home runs, 35 RBI, and six stolen bases across 51 games. He made 126 appearances for the Single-A Hickory Crawdads in 2011, hitting .278/.338/.465 with 17 home runs, 84 RBI, and 32 stolen bases.[4]

Villanueva began the 2012 season with the High-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans. In 100 appearances for the team, he slashed .285/.356/.421 with 10 home runs, 59 RBI, and nine stolen bases.[5]

Chicago Cubs

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On July 31, 2012, the Rangers traded Villanueva and Kyle Hendricks to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Ryan Dempster.[6] He spent the remainder of the year with the High-A Daytona Cubs, hitting .250 with four home runs, nine RBI, and five stolen bases in 25 games. On November 20, the Cubs added Villanueva to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.[7]

Villanueva spent the 2013 campaign with the Double-A Tennessee Smokies, playing in 133 games and hitting .261/.317/.469 with 19 home runs and 72 RBI.[8] By 2014, Villanueva was blocked in the Cubs' organization by fellow third baseman Kris Bryant.[3] In 126 games split between Tennessee and the Triple-A Iowa Cubs, he batted a cumulative .230/.297/.379 with 10 home runs and 58 RBI.[9]

Villanueva returned to Tennessee and Iowa for the 2015 season. In 129 appearances split between the two affiliates, he batted .257/.314/.438 with 20 home runs and 95 RBI.[10] Villanueva broke his right fibula during spring training in 2016 and missed the entire season.[11] He was non-tendered by the Cubs on December 2, 2016, and became a free agent.[12]

San Diego Padres

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On December 12, 2016, Villanueva signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres.[13] Villanueva began the 2017 season with the El Paso Chihuahuas of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. In 109 appearances for El Paso, he batted .297/.369/.528 with 20 home runs and 86 RBI.[14] On September 18, 2017, the Padres promoted Villanueva to the major leagues. He made his major league debut that day, starting at third base.[3] Villanueva hit .344 with four home runs and seven RBI in 32 at-bats for the Padres during his rookie campaign.[14]

Villanueva during his tenure with the San Diego Padres in 2018

On April 3, 2018, Villanueva hit three home runs in a game against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park.[15] He was named the National League Rookie of the Month for the month of April 2018. In April he led all rookies in hits, runs scored, home runs, RBI, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging and total bases. In May 2018 he tied the MLB record for most home runs for a rookie born in Mexico.[citation needed] On August 22, Villanueva fractured his finger while fielding 2nd base and missed the remainder of the season.[16] For the season, in 110 games, Villanueva hit .236 with 20 home runs and 46 RBI.

On November 6, 2018, Villanueva signed with the Yaquis de Obregon of the Mexican Pacific League for the 2018 winter season.[17] On November 20, Villanueva was designated for assignment by the Padres, who sold his contract to the a team in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League.[18]

Yomiuri Giants

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On November 21, 2018, Villanueva officially signed a one-year, $3.6;million contract with the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball.[19][20] In 73 games for Yomiuri, Villanueva batted .223/.325/.386 with eight home runs, 24 RBI, and two stolen bases. On December 2, 2019, he became a free agent.[21]

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

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On December 5, 2019, Villanueva signed with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.[22][23] In 54 games for the Fighters, he slashed .220/.321/.310 with four home runs and 19 RBI. On December 2, 2020, Villanueva became a free agent.[24]

Sultanes de Monterrey

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On April 6, 2021, Villanueva signed with the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League.[25] In 52 games, he batted .259/.403/.426 with six home runs, 31 RBI, and two stolen bases. He spent the entire 2022 season on the reserve list and did not appear in a game.

In 2023, Villanueva returned to Monterrey. In 81 games, he slashed .315/.392/.457 with eight home runs, 53 RBI, and three stolen bases. Villanueva made 71 appearances for the Sultanes in 2024, batting .301/.366/.467 with eight home runs, 44 RBI, and eight stolen bases.

In 2025, Villanueva re-signed with Monterrey for a fifth season.

Personal life

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Villanueva and his wife had a son, Christian Jr., in 2017.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "2018 Players' Weekend nicknames". MLB.com. August 25, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  2. ^ "Rangers Add Dempster Right Before Deadline Buzzer". baseballamerica.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Sanders, Jeff (September 18, 2017). "Padres' Villanueva relishing culmination of long journey to majors". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on September 19, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  4. ^ "Christian Villanueva - Stats - Batting". fangraphs.com. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  5. ^ "Rangers acquire RHP Ryan Dempster from Chicago Cubs". mlb.com. July 31, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  6. ^ "Rangers land Dempster in trade with Cubs". ESPN.com. July 31, 2012. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  7. ^ "Christian Villanueva Player Card". baseballprospectus.com. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  8. ^ "Christian Villanueva - Baseball Statistics". thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  9. ^ "The man behind Kris Bryant in the Cubs organization". Desmoinesregister.com. May 27, 2015. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  10. ^ "Christian Villanueva Stats & Scouting Report". baseballamerica.com. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
  11. ^ "Chicago Cubs prospect Christian Villanueva suffers broken right fibula - MiLB.com News - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  12. ^ Miles, Bruce (December 2, 2016). "Cubs sign relief pitcher, tender contracts". dailyherald.com. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  13. ^ Eddy, Matt (December 24, 2016). "Minor League Transactions: Dec. 10-22". baseballamerica.com. Retrieved December 24, 2016.
  14. ^ a b "Christian Villanueva touching all bases (and short) for Padres". The San Diego Union-Tribune. March 2, 2018. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  15. ^ "Christian Villanueva hits 3 homers to give Padres first win of 2018. In postgame interviews, Padres manager <Andy Green> said, "Villanueva reminds me a lot of (Hall of Famer) <Vladimir Guerrero.> The swing, the bat speed, he has the whole package. We found ourselves a diamond in the rough."". MLB. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  16. ^ "Villanueva placed on DL; season in doubt". mlb.com. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  17. ^ "Refuerzo de lujo para los Yaquis: Christian Villanueva llega a Cajeme". tribuna.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  18. ^ Karraker, Patrick (November 20, 2018). "Padres' Christian Villanueva designated for assignment, to be sold to Japan". mlbdailydish.com. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
  19. ^ "新外国人選手との契約合意について". 読売巨人軍公式WEBサイト (in Japanese). November 20, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  20. ^ "Yomiuri acquires former Padres infielder Christian Villanueva". The Japan Times. November 21, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  21. ^ "2019年度 自由契約選手". NPB.jp 日本野球機構 (in Japanese). Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  22. ^ "クリスチャン・ビヤヌエバ選手と契約合意". 北海道日本ハムファイターズ 公式サイト (in Japanese). December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  23. ^ "Agreement signed with Christian Villanueva". Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  24. ^ "2020年度 自由契約選手". NPB.jp 日本野球機構 (in Japanese). Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  25. ^ "CHRISTIAN VILLANUEVA ES SULTÁN". sultanes.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved April 6, 2021.
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