Villanueva signed with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters on Thursday, Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports.
The 28-year-old was sold to the Yomiuri Giants prior to the 2019 season, and he will remain in Japan in 2020 after signing with the Nippon-Ham Fighters. Villanueva performed well in his last major-league action, hitting .236/.299/.450 with 20 home runs and 46 RBI over 110 games in 2018 for the Padres before a broken finger cut his season short.
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Christian Villanueva: Joining Yomiuri Giants
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Villanueva (finger) was sold to the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan on Tuesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.
It was originally reported that Villanueva was headed to the Hanshin Tigers, but he was actually sold to the Giants. The 27-year-old had a hot start with San Diego this past season, but ended up with a .236/.299/.450 slash line before a broken finger ended his season in August. The Padres will instead look to their younger infield options, namely top prospect Fernando Tatis.
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Christian Villanueva: Sold to Hanshin Tigers
Rotowire
Villanueva (finger) was sold to the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan on Tuesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.
Villanueva got off to a hot start with the Padres in 2018, but finished the season with a .236/.299/.450 line across 110 games -- his season was cut short in August due to a broken finger.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Officially shut down
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Villanueva (finger) has been shut down for the season, MLB.com's AJ Cassavell reports.
Villanueva suffered a fractured middle finger Aug. 22 and was expected to miss 3-4 weeks. With nothing to play for over the final weeks of the season, the club formally shut down its young infielder for the 2018 campaign. Villanueva should be ready to compete for a starting job in camp next year after slashing .236/.299/.450 with 20 homers over 384 plate appearances in his first full season with the Friars.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Will miss 3-to-4 weeks
Rotowire
Villanueva underwent X-rays on Wednesday that revealed a fractured right middle finger, which will sideline him for 3-to-4 weeks, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.
Villanueva was already expected to miss 10 days after being placed on the disabled list Wednesday, but the back end of the updated timetable makes it possible that his 2018 season is over. The 27-year-old had fallen into a backup infield role after slashing .236/.299/.450 over 110 games this year. A corresponding move will be made Thursday to provide infield depth for the Padres.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Headed to DL with broken finger
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Villanueva will be placed on the disabled list with a fractured finger, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.
Villanueva was reportedly battling a "nagging" finger issue, but the issue is apparently more serious. It's not clear how long he'll be out. A corresponding move to fill his bench role is expected to come Thursday.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Battling nagging finger issue
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Villanueva is battling a nagging right middle finger injury, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.
The nature of the injury is not clear, but the way it was described makes it sound as though it isn't a particularly serious one. He's not in the lineup Wednesday against the Rockies but could be available to pinch hit.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Makes first start at second base
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Villanueva received his first career start at the keystone Friday, going 1-for-3 with a double in a loss to Arizona.
Villanueva had been working on his defense at second base, and he was finally rewarded with his first start at the position. The added defensive eligibility should help the slugger earn some extra starts against southpaws, but Wil Myers and Cory Spangenberg appear to be the Friars' primary options against righties at third base and second base respectively, limiting Villanueva's fantasy value for the time being.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Takes seat on bench
Rotowire
Villanueva is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Angels.
Villanueva will head to the bench for a breather following a string of three consecutive starts. Wil Myers will pick up his second straight start at the hot corner, hitting second. With Myers slated to see consistent playing time at the hot corner down the stretch, Villanueva could see his playing time take a hit.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: To draw starts at second base
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Villanueva is set to see time at second base and shortstop in the near future, Dennis Lin of The Athletic San Diego reports.
He has been taking groundballs at second base for a while now, and manager Andy Green said Monday that Villanueva will also get a chance to play shortstop before the season comes to a conclusion. Over his career, Villanueva has logged 100 games at third base and three games apiece at first base and shortstop. The Padres deployed Wil Myers at third base Monday and have a couple prized infield prospects (Fernando Tatis and Luis Urias) who could be knocking on the door of the big leagues next season, so Villanueva's chances of remaining in the mix will increase if he can display some defensive versatility. Myers playing third base over Villanueva makes sense for a variety of reasons, so Villanueva's playing time could take a hit over the rest of the season if he can't prove passable in the middle infield.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Starts again Sunday
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Villanueva went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored in Sunday's 9-3 win over the Phillies.
Villanueva started his second consecutive game against a righty after being situated on the bench in the previous two contests. There was concern that Cory Spangenberg would eat into the slugger's playing time at third, but the latter appears to be settling in as the club's primary option at second base. Villanueva is batting just .231 on the year, but he has turned things around by going 10-for-27 with a homer in eight August starts.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: On bench again Friday
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Villanueva is out of the lineup against the Phillies on Friday.
Villanueva will remain on the bench for the second straight game after starting the previous 14. In his place, Cory Spangenberg will start at third base while Carlos Asuaje mans the keystone.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: On bench Thursday
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Villanueva is not in the lineup versus Milwaukee on Thursday.
Villanueva will receive a breather following 14 straight starts, during which he's hit .250/.345/.375 with one home run and two RBI. Cory Spangenberg will man third base while Jose Pirela draws the assignment at second for the series finale.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Smacks 20th homer
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Villanueva went 2-for-4 with a solo home run Friday in a loss to the Cubs.
Villanueva cut Chicago's lead to one in the fourth inning with a solo blast over the left field wall, but the Cubs would ultimately secure the victory. Prior to Friday's matchup, Villanueva hadn't homered since June 15 (11 games), though he's gone deep 20 times through 97 contests in 2018.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Sitting out Game 2 of twin bill
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Villanueva is out of the lineup for the second half of Sunday's doubleheader with the Phillies.
Villanueva played all nine innings in the Padres' 10-2 victory in Game 1, going 1-for-4 with a run scored. He'll get a breather in the second contest of the twin bill, paving the way for the newly recalled Cory Spangenberg to pick up a start at the hot corner.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Smacks 19th home run
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Villanueva went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and two runs scored Sunday against the Cubs.
Villanueva connected for his 19th home run of the season in the fourth inning against southpaw Jon Lester. He continues to crush left-handed pitching; He now has 13 home runs against them to go along with a .739 slugging percentage. He's paired that with just a .183/.246/.339 slash line against right-handed pitchers, greatly diminishing his value. As a result, he remains a better option in daily lineup leagues where his vast split can be maximized.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Takes seat Thursday
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Villanueva is out of Thursday's lineup against the Dodgers.
Villanueva will get the day off after launching his 18th home run of the season Wednesday. He's batting .228 with 28 extra-base hits and 42 RBI through 81 games this season.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Homers against righty
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Villanueva went 1-for-3 with his 18th home run of the season in Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the Dodgers.
Villanueva recently regained his role as the Padres' primary third baseman following Cory Spangenberg's demotion to the minors, and he responded with his sixth homer against a right-handed pitcher this season. The 27-year-old is batting just .180 against same-handed pitchers this season -- compared to .322 against southpaws -- but his plus power (.247 isolated power mark) helps offset the drag on batting average in an everyday role.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Should see uptick in playing time
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Villanueva started at third base and went 1-for-4 in Monday's loss to the Dodgers.
The slugging third baseman had been splitting time with Cory Spangenberg at the hot corner, but the latter's demotion to the minors Monday opens up a large window of playing time for Villanueva. The 27-year-old could still cede some starts at third to Carlos Asuaje against righties, but second baseman Jose Pirela seems to be the player most affected by Asuaje's presence. Villanueva is batting just .226 on the year due to an ugly 29.6 percent strikeout rate, but his 17 homers and .468 slugging percentage give him value as a power asset.
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Padres' Christian Villanueva: Not in Sunday's lineup
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Villanueva is out of the lineup Sunday against the Diamondbacks.
After starting four of the last five games at the hot corner (three of which coming against southpaws), Villanueva will take a seat for the series finale in favor of Cory Spangenberg. Villanueva is 1-for-9 with four strikeouts to begin the series, bringing his season-long batting average down to .227. Carlos Asuaje's recent uptick in playing time will limit Spangenberg's starts at the keystone, which could force Villanueva to man the short side of a platoon at third unless he shows some signs of life at the plate.
