"He won the Double-A Southern League ERA title last season. He also paced the circuit in innings, complete games and shutouts. Yet don't look for right-hander Elih Villanueva on any top prospect list. The Marlins gave him Organizational Pitcher of the Year honors, but that didn't resonate with Baseball America, which ranked him the system's eighth best pitcher. Villanueva doesn't mind. "I love it," said Villanueva, a product of Fort Lauderdale Westminster Academy and Florida State who the Marlins selected in the 27th round of 2008 draft. "I read some stuff and my wife is always telling me, 'Get off of that.' "She gets upset just because of the success I've had. I enjoy it because it's always, 'He doesn't have this. He doesn't have that. We'll see how he does in this level.' I go through that level and then the next level it's, 'Well, he had some success because of this but he still doesn't have what it takes.' I look at it as I'm going to have to prove myself at every level. I'm completely fine with that." In big league camp for the first time, Villanueva will get the start Tuesday in Lakeland against the Tigers for Alex Sanabia, who has mild elbow soreness. The Tigers won't see a 95-mph fastball from Villanueva, but they'll get a ton of strikes. Over 54 appearances (347 innings) in 2009-10, Villanueva walked 45 and struck out 230. What he lacks in velocity he makes up for in command of four pitches. "That's the type of guy I am, control and being able to place a ball where I want and mix speeds since I don't really have that mid-90s fastball," he said." Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/florida-marlins/fl-marlins-notebook-0308-20110307,0,2931734.story
