In his relatively short major league career, Carlos Villanueva has filled just about every imaginable role. He's started, pitched in long-relief, worked as a set-up man and even notched a save.
The right-hander has performed well in any situation he's faced, showing a sort of poise at the age of 24 that has left veteran players impressed.
It should come as no surprise then that Villanueva didn't even flinch when handed his first-ever Opening Day assignment.
A crowd of 45,212 was on hand to see the Brewers' 13-4 victory. It was the third-largest crowd in the history of Miller Park. That alone, combined with the circus-like atmosphere of Opening Day can be enough to alter a veteran pitcher's routine, but Villanueva wasn't phased.
"I didn't see the crowd until the fifth inning," Villanueva said. "I don't look up, I don't look around. When I'm on the mound, all I see is Jason Kendall. I know who's up, I know who's hitting. I'm prepared and I have an attack plan for every hitter. It's kind of how it feels when I'm out there.
"I don't want to put extra pressure on myself that I don't need to. I think that's extra stuff that I can't really control. Whether its five people or 40,000 people, it's the same to me."
Building off an impressive spring that earned him a spot in the rotation, Villanueva picked up his first victory of the season. The right-hander threw five shutout innings before fading in the sixth. He finished with two runs on eight hits and tied a career high with six strikeouts.
"He was on the attack," Yost said. "He was changing speeds really, really well (and) getting their hitters off-balance."
San Francisco runners got into scoring position twice against Villanueva in the first few innings, but he found a way to work out of it and keep them from crossing the plate.
"At times he got into trouble with his fastball," Yost said. "He got it up but always made pitches with his breaking and off-speed stuff to get out of it."
He got into trouble in the sixth, allowing back-to-back doubles to Aaron Rowand and Jose Castillo. An RBI-single by Rich Aurilia and another hit from Brian Bocock ended his day.
Villanueva was somewhat frustrated as he walked off to a standing ovation, but after the game was pleased with his overall performance.
"I'm a little bit hard on myself," Villanueva said. "Of course I heard it, but it takes me a little time to cool off. I went in and told myself ‘it could have been a lot worse,' so I sat down, calmed down and enjoyed my offensive day."
His frustration, he said, came from wanting to work deeper in the game. As a member of the often-beleaguered Brewers bullpen last season, he knew how important it was to let the relievers get rest.
Having thrown, at most, about 80 pitches during his Cactus League outings, Villanueva -- who left after throwing 104 pitches -- knew he had gotten the job done.
"I was pleased," Villanueva said. "Every time you get a win for the team, or as a team, it's good. I would have wanted to go a little deeper into the game, but at the same time, the most I went in spring training was about 80 pitches. Today I think I went over 100. My arm strength will keep building up and I've got a long way to go."
He's shown a great deal of versatility in his career, but Yost is confident that Villanueva will be best-suited as a starter.
"We think his niche is as a starter," Yost said. "We think he can go deep into games, he commands four pitches and he's got one of the best change-ups on our staff. He has a very nice slider that he can go to."
