Carlos Villalobos

Carlos Enrique Villalobos

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 182 lb.

• Born April 5, 1975 in Cartagena Colombia

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Carlos Villalobos played 14 seasons in the minor leagues and two in Taiwan. He has played professional baseball in the Dominican Republic, USA, Mexico, Taiwan, Colombia and Italy.

Villalobos debuted in 1993 with the DSL Mariners, hitting .295 with 10 home runs. He came stateside in 1994 with the AZL Mariners and batted .291/.337/.417. He tied Adrian Wilkerson for 7th in the Arizona League in average, right behind Ronnie Belliard. He was named the AZL All-Star third baseman. League managers picked him as the loop's #4 prospect, right behind Anton French.

Carlos produced at a .260/.322/.391 rate for the '95 Wisconsin Timber Rattlers with 16 steals in 20 tries. His defense was deplorable, with 43 errors, leading all Midwest League players at the hot corner. In 1996, the Cartagena native hit .292/.371/.402 for the Lancaster JetHawks. He made 43 errors, leading California League third basemen, fielding just .848.

Villalobos began 1997 back with Lancaster and batted .341/.463/.541 in his first 86 games. He was then dealt with Scott Sanders and Dean Crow to the Detroit Tigers for Omar Olivares and Felipe Lira. With the Lakeland Tigers in 39 games after the trade, Carlos hit .252/.313/.306.

In '98, Villalobos hit .320/.387/.505 with 34 doubles, 18 home runs, 8 steals in 8 tries, 96 runs and 80 RBI in an excellent performance for the AA Jacksonville Suns. He improved his fielding percentage at third to .928 with 28 errors. He led Southern League third basemen with 267 assists. He was 5th in the SL in average, between Gabe Kapler and Robert Fick. He was left off the All-Star team as Eric Chavez was picked at third base. Led by Kapler, Fick and Villalobos, Jacksonville tied for the best regular-season record in the circuit.

Detroit shipped him to the Houston Astros with Crow, Brian Powell, Paul Bako and Mark Persails for Brad Ausmus and C.J. Nitkowski. Villalobos was now only a step below with the majors with the AAA New Orleans Zephyrs in 1999. He had a solid season, hitting .283/.352/.407 with 33 doubles and 82 runs, but never got called up and would not ever play in The Show.

Carlos struggled with injuries in 2000 with the Toledo Mud Hens (6 for 48, 3B, 9 BB), Lakeland (.235/.320/.318 in 25 G) and the GCL Tigers (3 for 7), only playing 45 games all year long.

In 2001, the Colombian was out of Organized Baseball. He hit .332/?/.496 for the Yuma Bullfrogs, was 0 for 4 with 2 walks for the Newark Bears and batted .317/?/.512 in 15 games for the Sonoma County Crushers. Overall, he was 8th in the Western Baseball League in batting average.

Villalobos played for a whopping five teams in 2002 - the Sioux Falls Canaries (.344/.388/.557 in 16 G), Sioux City Explorers (3 for 15, 2B, HR, BB), Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks (5 for 23, 2 2B, BB), Tabasco Olmecas (.274/.332/.451 in 59 G) and Monclova Steelers (.310/.355/.462 in 40 G). Overall, he hit .290 with 17 homers and 70 RBI for the year.

Having completed a decade in pro baseball, Carlos began his second decade in 2003 with the Puebla Parrots, hitting .370/.451/.587. He was second in the Mexican League in average behind only Felix Jose. In 2004, Villaobos batted .337/.399/.540 for Puebla with 82 runs and 82 RBI in 96 games. He was 14th in the league in average.

In '05, Villalobos hit .355/.421/.594 between two Mexican League squads. He had 39 doubles, 19 home runs, 85 runs and 97 RBI. He tied Julio Hernandez for the league lead in two-baggers. For the 2006 season, Carlos hit .312/.378/.483 for the San Luis Potosi Tuneros.

The veteran joined the Chinatrust Whales for 2007 and batted .359 while slugging .564. Had he qualified, he would have been third in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in average behind Chin-Feng Chen and Cheng-Min Peng, .001 ahead of MVP Kuo-Ching Kao. Back with the Whales in 2008, Villalobos hit .273 and slugged .435 in 57 games.

Back in the US for the first time in 7 years, Villalobos hit .327 with a team-high 46 runs, 21 doubles and 9 homers for the 2009 Yuma Scorpions. He spent the winter of 2009-2010 with the Caimanes de Barranquilla.

Villalobos hit two homers in the 2010 South American Games to help Colombia win a Silver Medal. He signed with the Godo Knights for 2010. He debuted on Opening Day, April 1, batting cleanup and manning third. He went 0 for 4 against Jesus Matos and Victor Moreno in a 4-0 loss.

Villalobos was a coach for the DSL Blue Jays in 2014-2016 and Bluefield Blue Jays in 2017-2018.

Sources

• 1994-2010 Baseball Almanacs
• Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database
• Chinese Wiki Baseball
• Mister Baseball
• 2005-2006 Baseball Guides