Scouting Report RHP Yovani Gallardo

The 24-year old Gallardo just signed a five year extension in excess of 30 million dollars, so obviously the Brewers love this young pitcher, and rightfully so. He was drafted in the 2nd round in the 2004 draft, and made his major league debut in 2007. He had two knee surgeries in 2008 (Medial Meniscectomy and then later in the year an ACL reconstruction). For his career he has 26-19 record, with a 3.51 ERA and 1.31 WHIP. Last year he was only 13-12 with a 3.73 ERA and 1.31 WHIP, with 204 strikeouts. He faced the Mets twice last year, and in two starts he threw 13 innings and allowed only one run and 19 strikeouts.

Gallardo throws straight over the top and is a strike out pitcher. What makes Gallardo successful? He has four above-average pitches. He showcases his 91-94 mph moving fastball, with a power curve-ball (79 MPH), a tight slider (85 MPH) and an occasional change-up (84 MPH). This year he's striking out > 10 K/9 (career 9.28), but he has also increased his W/9 to 4.88. That combination causes him to run up high pitch counts. He is a future ace (his top comp is former teammate CC Sabathia). He also can help himself with the bat; he has five career HRs in 139 at bats.

This year he is 4-2 in his 10 starts, with a 3.2 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. I alluded to his high pitch counts earlier, and he's gone over 100+ pitches in nine of his 10 starts (120 in two starts), while only going > 6 innings twice. He's had three games of 10+ Ks already this year. Mets need to make him throw a lot of pitches, get him out of the game early, and attack the suspect Brewers bullpen.