By John Pesetski
Special to FOXSportsWisconsin.com
PHOENIX — It's business as usual for Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo. But, when business is good and getting better, then business as usual is just fine.
Last year, the 6-2, 210-pounder achieved career bests with 17 wins, 207 1/3 innings, 207 strikeouts and a WHIP of only 1.215. He finished seventh in National League Cy Young award voting after ranking among league leaders in multiple categories. The team's opening day starter in 2010 and 2011, Gallardo has improved his victory total in each of the past three seasons after winning nine games as a rookie in 2007 and then missing almost all of 2008 with a torn ACL.
Born in Mexico but raised in Forth Worth, Texas, the right-hander also sparkled in the 2011 postseason. In two National League Divisional Series starts, he went 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 14 innings. His overall postseason ERA was 2.84, which raised his career playoff ERA to 2.08.
As good as Gallardo was in 2011, catcher Jonathan Lucroy is confident his battery mate has room to improve.
"I don't thing he's hit his ceiling yet. No way." Lucroy said Monday, Gallardo's 26th birthday. "Being consistent is the key. His stuff, his competitiveness, his mental make-up all make him tough. As good as he is, every year I see him, he gets better. He works hard. He'll get even better."
For his part, Gallardo is hungry to continue his upward career arc.
"This year, and every year, I just try to get a little bit better. Just a little bit better, everywhere, every year," Gallardo said.
This season, 20 wins seem well within reach.
"Winning 20 games is a big thing to a starter," Gallardo said. "It's a goal I have every year. I missed it by three games last year. But every year I just try to improve."
Manager Ron Roenicke says dispatching batters more quickly — Gallardo averaged one strikeout per inning last season — will help his ace starter work toward that goal.
"His stuff is as good as anybody in the big leagues," Roenicke said. "He's got a plus fastball, a plus curveball and a plus slider. And, he's got command of all three pitches. His pitch count can get up though, so we're looking to get him through some innings better. We've got to get him some easier outs. We'd like him to cruise through lineups a little easier."
But for a powerful strikeout pitcher like Gallardo, sometimes keeping pitch counts down isn't easy.
"His stuff is too good to be put in play sometimes," Roenicke said. "Pitchers with great stuff have that, and they're not going to have low pitch counts."
Gallardo is developing a changeup to reduce his pitch count. He threw the pitch when he first came up in 2007 but has gotten away from it in recent years.
"He doesn't need to throw his nastiest pitch first. You can't always be full-gorilla on the first pitch," Roenicke said. "He's been working on his changeup. He didn't throw many last year. He'd like to get back to it, but he needs to be confident in it."
The additions of third baseman Aramis Ramirez and shortstop Alex Gonzalez via free agency will also help keep Gallardo's pitch count down. In 33 starts last year, Gallardo surrendered 12 unearned runs, several of which were the result of errors on the left side of the infield. While Ramirez and Gonzalez both represent defensive upgrades, Gallardo doesn't expect to change the way he pitches. However, he does appreciate the glove work of both players.
"You just pitch to your strengths," he said. "Ramirez and Gonzalez on the left side is great. It's going to help. I want to give those guys a chance behind me."
If they stick around, they should get plenty of time to get familiar with Gallardo. The team signed him to a $30.1 million contract in April 2010, locking up their top starter through 2014 with a team option for 2015. Gallardo has proved well worth the team's investment, but he isn't going to measure continued improvement with his personal stat line.
"For myself, my main goal, and really for all of our starting pitchers, especially after last year, is to get to the World Series," Gallardo said. "It's why we work and want to improve. The World Series is our goal."
