MVN - Most Valuable Network

Breaking News: Villareal DFA And Borkowski Called Up

I actually didn’t think that the Astros were ever going to admit that Villareal was having significant pitching problems, as they had signed him to a 2 year contract for 2.85 mill.

Ed Wade worked for the Phillies for years and he should have known all about John Schuerholz’ outstanding judgement about pitchers - if he lets one go, the probability is that the pitcher is not good. Notable exceptions being Adam Wainwright and Jason Schmidt and perhaps Jason Marquis.

Anyway, I’m sure the Organization wants him to try to work out his troubles in the minors - perhaps Burt Hooten is a better pitching coach than Dewey Robinson.

This year, Villarreal has pitched in 35 games over 37.2 IP - 42 H, 25R/21 ER, 12 HR, 17 BB, 21 K: 1.57 WHIP, 5.04 ERA, .286 BAA, .365 OBAA, .585 SLGA, .948 OPSA.

He only had 8 appearances in which he didn’t give up a hit or walk and didn’t give up any runs, whether his own or inherited runners. Not great. The guy is only 26 and I hope Hooten is able to straighten him out.

In Round Rock, Borkowski has appeared in 12 games, 19.1 innings - 16 H, no HR, 5 BB, 16 K - 1.07 WHIP, 2.29 ERA.

By the way, Chad Paronto, another option, has appeared in 28 games, 40.1 IP - 46 H, 2 HR, 9 BB, 44 K - 1.35 WHIP, 3.15 ERA. Kyle Middleton - 9 games, 24.1 IP - 17 H, 2 HR, 6 BB, 17 K - 0.95 WHIP, 2.59 ERA.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 4:45 pm and is filed under Oscar Villarreal, Dave Borkowski, Astros baseball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.