Brandon Villafuerte

Born in Hawaii, moved to mainland and graduated from Live Oak (Morgan Hill, CA) High School...struck out 187 batters over 169.0 innings during 2 years (1994-95) at West Valley (Saratoga, CA) College...single...veteran right-hander joins SF in Spring Training as non-roster invitee...has made 91 career ML relief appearances with Detroit (2000), Texas (2001), San Diego (2002-03) and Arizona (2004)...has logged 3.21 ERA (33er, 92.2ip) with 3 saves over 82 NL games...has 4.12 lifetime mark, with 1-7 record...has been in professional baseball for 10 seasons after being selected by Mets in 66th round of 1994 First-Year Player Draft...also logged time as Florida farmhand.

2004

Signed with Arizona organization in January and was non-roster invitee to Spring Training...opened year at triple-A Tucson, going 2-2 with 4 saves and 2.64 ERA in 23 games...had contract purchased by Diamondbacks June 5...worked in 20 games out of bullpen for D-Backs, posting 0-3 record with 4.05 ERA...was unscored upon in 8 of his 1st 10 outings, fashioning 2.08 ERA (2er, 8.2ip)...was touched for 5.56 mark (7er, 11.1ip) over his last 10 appearances... was outrighted to Tucson July 25, but refused assignment and elected free agency.

2003

Brandon worked a career-high tying 31 games for the Padres while also making 37 appearances for Portland (AAA)... opening the season with San Diego, he notched his first save of '03 on April 4 vs. the Dodgers with a scoreless inning...he picked up his second rescue on April 11 vs. the Rockies with a season-high 3 strikeouts...he matched his career-high with 2.1 innings pitched on May 8 at Montreal...Brandon was on the disabled list from May 15-June 9 with a strained right shoulder... he recorded a pair of saves in 1-inning rehab stints with Lake Elsinore (A) on June 3 & 5...once deemed healthy, he joined Portland on June 9 and was 3-1 with 12 saves and a 1.84 ERA in 37 games for the Beavers from June 11-August 30... he shutout opponents in 33 of his 37 outings and was scored on only once in 19 home games for a 0.74 ERA (2 earned runs in 24.1 innings)...Brandon tossed 11.1 shutout frames in his first 8 games before getting tagged for 5 runs in 1.2 frames on June 28 at Salt Lake...he twice recorded saves in 3 consecutive outings from July 7-10 and July 24-30...he allowed only 5 runs (4 earned) over 30.0 innings in his final 27 appearances (1.20 ERA)...he pitched 11.2 shutout innings over his last 10 games for the Beavers and returned to the big league club on September 3...Villafuerte appeared in 9 games, holding Padres' opponents to a .225 clip (9-for-40) during that stretch.

2002

Brandon had a 2.02 ERA (13 earned runs in 58.0 innings) in 47 games for Portland (AAA) before his July 21 promotion to the majors, where he became the primary set-up man, pitching 31 times for the Padres...his 47 appearances for the Beavers were the second on the squad...he was 3-0 with an 0.84 ERA (2 earned runs in 21.2 innings) in his initial 15 games...he recorded a season-high 6 strikeouts in 2.0 innings on June 12 against Omaha but suffered the loss, his second in 3 games...he then went 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA, allowing 4 earned runs in 18.2 innings pitched, in his final 17 games leading up to his promotion...he gave up only 5 earned runs in 32.0 innings (1.41 ERA) in 31 games for the Padres, holding opposing teams scoreless in 27 of his appearances...he limited opponents to a .248 clip (29-for-117) with 2 homers, including a .171 average (7-for-41) with runners in scoring position...opposing batters were 0-for-12 with a walk with the bases loaded...he was dominating against the N.L. West with an 0.56 ERA in 16 games, allowing a run in 16.0 innings of relief work, including 7.0 shutout frames against Los Angeles and 5.0 scoreless innings vs. Arizona...Brandon's 8 holds were fourth on the team behind Jeremy Fikac (12), Steve Reed (11) and Alan Embree (10)...he earned his first career victory by pitching out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam in the tenth on July 31 in Chicago (NL), setting the stage for homers by Mark Kotsay and Phil Nevin in the top of the 11th of the 8-6 triumph...he gave up just 1 run in his final 15 outings (15.1 innings) to cut his ERA from 2.16 to 1.41.

2001

Brandon worked a majority of the season for Oklahoma (AAA) except for a brief 6-game stint with Texas...he was 5-5 with 10 saves and 65 K's in 63.2 innings for the RedHawks...opponents hit .311 (50- for-161) in their first 25 games against him before batting .173 (13-for-75) over his final 13 games...he posted a 1.42 ERA (4 earned runs in 25.1 innings) in his first 12 games, going 2-2 with a pair of saves...he went 2-1 with 6 rescues over his last 16 outings for Oklahoma, giving up 4 earned runs in 25.2 innings (1.40 ERA)...Brandon was promoted to Texas in between games of a July 25 twinbill against Baltimore...he had allowed 2 runs in his first 5 games (5.1 innings) before getting tagged for 7 runs in 0.1 of an inning on August 8 against Detroit...he was returned to Oklahoma on August 11...released by Texas on October 15, he signed with San Diego as a minor league free agent on November 7.

2000

Brandon received his first taste of major league action during a 3-game stay with the Tigers...he opened his season with Toledo (AAA) and was 2-0 with a save, a 5.32 ERA (14 earned runs in 23.2 innings) and a .245 opponents average (23-for-94) in his first 16 games...promoted to Detroit on May 19, he made his big league debut on May 23 and retired Cleveland's Manny Ramirez... Brandon struggled upon his return to Toledo on June 2, going 2-7 with 3 saves and a 6.41 ERA (37 earned runs in 52.0 innings) in his final 20 outings...he was traded with righthanded pitcher Kevin Mobley to Texas on December 15 in exchange for lefthanded pitcher Matt Perisho.

1999

Villafuerte made a combined 12 starts for Portland (AA) and Jacksonville (AA), pitching 124.1 innings and recording 105 strikeouts...he began the season in the Florida farm system, going 5-7 with a 3.77 ERA and a .277 opponents average (78-for-282) in 12 starts for Portland...he was 1-1 with a 2.73 ERA in 10 relief outings, holding opponents to a .213 clip (19-for-89)...despite a 0-2 ledger in May, he posted a 1.77 ERA, allowing 4 runs in 20.1 innings, and a .194 opponents average (13-for-67)...he was traded to Detroit on July 31 in exchange for righthanded pitcher Mike Drumright...Brandon appeared in 15 games out of the bullpen for Jacksonville, going 0-2 with 5 saves, a 1.88 ERA (5 earned runs in 24.0 innings) and a .200 opponents average (17-for-85)...righthanded hitters were just 10-for-58 (.172) against him...after the season, he pitched for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League and nabbed Pitcher-of-the-Week honors for the week ending November 15.

1998

Brandon was traded along with a player to be named (infielder Cesar Crespo) from New York (NL) to Florida on March 20 in exchange for outfielder Rob Stratton... Brandon worked in a combined 43 games for Brevard County (A), Portland (AA) and Charlotte (AAA) in the Marlins' chain.

1997

Villafuerte compiled a 2.38 ERA in 47 games (3 starts) for Columbia (A), the third-best ERA in the Mets farm system... he fanned 88 batters in 75.2 innings, a ratio of 10.5 strikeouts per 9-innings...he returned to the Hawaiian Winter League for the second straight "off-season".

1996

Brandon worked as a starter for the first time in his career and was on the hill to begin 7 of his 18 appearances with Pittsfield (A)...his 8 victories paced the squad and set a career high...he twirled his first complete game as a pro and also notched his first save...he participated in the Hawaiian Winter League.

1995

Brandon was drafted by the New York Mets in the 66th round of the June Free Agent Draft and began his pro career with Kingsport (R), making 20 relief appearances...he suffered the loss in his debut on Opening Night but answered with 5 consecutive winning decisions...he struck out 42 batters in 32.0 frames, an 11.8 strikeout per 9-innings ratio.