(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
If you were to say that Yovani Gallardo is one of the best young pitchers in baseball, no one should give you a funny look or call you crazy. If he had been healthy last season, maybe the baseball world would regard him among the elite already, but two separate knee injuries limited him to just four starts, certainly slowing his progress.
In 2009, however, he is making his case, posting the following line:
8 Wins
104.2 Innings
2.75 ERA
1.15 WHIP
114 Strikeouts (9.80 K/9)
46 Walks (3.96 BB/9)
.258 BABIP
The real question is, can he duplicate these numbers in the season’s second half?
The first potential negative is the BABIP, which puts him in a tie for sixth in the league. Is that really something we can expect to continue? I wouldn’t think so, and when his luck starts to turn coupled with his inflated walk rate, his WHIP is going to suffer.
Will the walk rate continue to be as bad, however? Over his minor league career he posted a BB/9 of 3.2. Before you say that it was simply against lower level talent, in 77.2 innings at Triple-A in 2007 he matched that mark of 3.2.
After being recalled in 2007, he actually had a BB/9 of 3.0 over 110.1 innings pitched. Even recently he’s been marginally better, posting a 3.4 BB/9 over his last three starts (8 walks over 21.2 innings).
The other number that has to be factored in is the strikeouts. If batters aren’t putting the ball in play against him very often, a little bit worse luck isn’t going to have a significant impact on his WHIP.
His minor league career K/9 was 10.4, including a 12.7 during his ‘07 stay at Triple-A. While he may regress slightly there, I don’t think that it should be considered a guarantee by any stretch.
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