Kuzul

Texas Rangers pitcher Yovani Gallardo extended his scoreless run to 29.1 innings during Thursday’s 2-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles, giving him the Rangers’ longest such streak since Kenny Rogers tossed 31 consecutive scoreless innings in 2005, according to the Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

Gallardo only struck out two batters during Thursday’s game yet still held the Orioles to no runs on just two hits and three walks over six innings. He didn’t pick up a decision, but the Rangers eventually scored a pair of runs in the ninth inning to walk away with a 2-0 victory.

Gallardo has now held his opponents scoreless in four consecutive starts, allowing just 14 hits over 26.1 innings during that stretch despite posting an ugly 13-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The surprising streak has sunk his ERA from 3.45 to 2.56 for the season, putting him fourth among all qualified starters in the American League.

Advanced metrics suggest the 29-year-old has been among the luckiest pitchers in the league, as his Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) sits at 3.48, with his Skill Independent ERA (SIERA) at an even 4.00, according to FanGraphs.

Although the recent level of success is likely unsustainable for a pitcher who otherwise seems to be in the declining phase of his career, Gallardo has at least proved to be the one reliable starter in an otherwise shaky rotation.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Yovani Gallardo had one highlight in an otherwise unimpressive outing against the Miami Marlins on Monday, breaking the all-time franchise record for strikeouts with his lone K of the night, per MLB Milestones.

After matching Ben Sheets’ team record of 1,206 strikeouts in his last outing, Gallardo recorded No. 1,207 with no outs in the second inning when he caught Marlins catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia looking on a low slider. The 28-year-old right can be excused for a lack of jubilance, as the previous two batters had both hit solo home runs.

Ultimately, Gallardo lasted just 3.2 innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on nine hits and two walks in a game the Brewers would eventually lose 6-4. The loss, Milwaukee’s third in a row and 12th in its past 13 games, dropped the Brew Crew six games back of the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals.

Having allowed 10 earned runs in his last two outings, Gallardo has played his part in the stretch of futility, though he did toss six scoreless frames in an Aug. 27 loss to the San Diego Padres.

Long known for his ability to pile up punchouts, Gallardo has turned into more of a pitch-to-contact guy the past two seasons. After posting a K/9 of at least 8.99 in each of the previous four seasons, the Mexican righty saw that mark fall to just 7.17 last year. He’s taken another step back this season, with his K/9 sitting at just 6.56 after Monday’s outing.

The Brewers have a $13 million team option on Gallardo for 2015, and while that once looked like a sure thing to be picked up, the team may now give some thought to the $600,000 buyout.

One way or the other, Gallardo will hold the title of Brewers all-time strikeout king for quite some time, as no other pitcher currently with the franchise has more than 484 strikeouts in a Milwaukee uniform, with that mark held by Marco Estrada, who was demoted to the bullpen in July.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

In reality, it only takes one team to overvalue, and, thus, overpay for a player on the trade market. But there’s always a group of players that’s viewed as having a certain value based on certain numbers, reputation and trade-market depth.  

For those reasons, certain players will be overrated, and some team will be taking a risk by acquiring them, even at fair market value.  

Unless the price somehow goes way down in the next 12 days, here are five overrated players whom your team should avoid acquiring before the trade deadline.

Begin Slideshow

Longtime Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo is drawing interest as the July 31 MLB trade deadline draws closer.

According to CBS Sports baseball insider Jon Heyman, the Cleveland Indians have discussed the possibility of acquiring the 27-year-old right-hander this summer:

The Indians seek a starting pitcher and have held discussions about Matt Garza and Yovani Gallardo.

It’s no surprise the Indians would like to add a starter. The twist is that they are limiting themselves to a top-of-the-rotation type.

…for now, Garza and Gallardo are the Indians’ main and only pitchers of interest.

Gallardo has made 19 starts for the Brewers in 2013 and boasts a 7-8 record. To say he’s struggled would be an understatement, however. The Mexican ace is sporting a career-worst 4.85 ERA through the first half of the year and has more hits allowed (116) than strikeouts (88) through his first 19 appearances on the mound for Milwaukee.

For his career, though, Gallardo is 76-51 with a 3.76 ERA. He’s also made four postseason starts for Milwaukee, sporting a 2.08 ERA in those appearances. 

Gallardo, who has never finished a season with a losing record in the majors, is batting .286 in 35 at-bats this season as well. He made the All-Star team and won a Silver Slugger Award three years ago in 2010.

Cleveland could certainly use his services during the second half of the season. Although the Indians rank fifth in runs this season and are right on the Detroit Tigers’ heels in the AL Central race, the team ranks 28th in the majors in team ERA (4.46). 

Only Minnesota and Houston have fared worse.

Gallardo has another season remaining on his contract and then a club option for the 2015 season; unlike Matt Garza and Joba Chamberlain, Gallardo won’t hit the free-agent market this coming fall, potentially making him a more attractive piece this July.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The trade deadline is rapidly approaching, bringing with it an endless series of rumors about players who will be on the move to hopefully push a contending team into the postseason. 

One of the hottest names potentially available at the deadline could be Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo. According to Anthony Witrado of the Sporting News, the Brewers figure to be sellers at the deadline because of their awful start (31-43). 

The Brewers also need to add impact talent to a farm system that is lacking it, especially at the upper levels. They were able to get a few key pieces last year when they moved Zack Greinke to the Angels, and Jean Segura looks like a star, but they need a lot more if they hope to contend in the near future. 

Teams are always looking for pitching, especially starters, at the deadline. The chance to get a 27-year-old power arm who is locked up through 2014 (with a team option for 2015) at an affordable salary—Gallardo will make $11.25 million next year, per Witrado‘s report—is appealing for the 29 other teams. 

Gallardo has really turned his season around, only increasing his trade value. After hitting bottom with a 5.25 ERA on June 5, he has gone 2-0 in his last three starts with 15 strikeouts, five walks, 12 hits allowed and zero earned runs in 21 innings. 

With all that in mind, we are going to highlight the five most likely destinations for Gallardo at the trade deadline. 

Begin Slideshow

From the sound of things, the Milwaukee Brewers are going to hold a yard sale and one of the items up for grabs on the front lawn will be Yovani Gallardo.

If it comes to that, the Brewers aren’t going to be looking to just give him away. But given the season Gallardo is having, that may be their only real option.

Entering Tuesday’s action, the Brew Crew is 21-35 and in last place in an NL Central division that features three of the four best teams in the National League. The Brewers have some quality players, but they don’t have much hope of making a spectacular comeback with their starting pitching (single word description: “bleh”).

Hence the inevitable yard sale. Brewers general manager Doug Melvin told Michael Hunt of the Journal-Sentinel that the club will have the future in mind if and when it makes trades this year, and notables like Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com have singled out Gallardo as one of the club’s top trade chips.

And that makes sense on a surface level. There’s always a demand for top-tier starting pitchers during trade season, and Gallardo is one of those by reputation. He earned this by compiling a 3.68 ERA over 782 innings between 2009 and 2012, making at least 30 starts each year.

Also working for Gallardo‘s trade value is the fact that he’s under control through 2014 with a team option for 2015. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, that option can only be voided if Gallardo is a big player in the Cy Young voting between now and 2014.

It seems unlikely that he will be a Cy Young contender this year or next, though. Not given the kind of season he’s having, and that’s also where things get tricky in relation to his trade stock.

Through 12 starts, Gallardo has an ERA over 5.00 and a WHIP of 1.49. Opponents are hitting .282 against him with a .451 slugging percentage, and he’s not striking batters out at the rate he’s used to with a K/9 of 7.4.

There’s one ERA estimator that says Gallardo hasn’t been that bad. FanGraphs has his xFIP at 3.79, which isn’t that far off from the 3.55 xFIP Gallardo posted last year. This being xFIP—a stat that replaces a pitcher’s home run total with an estimate for how many home runs he should have allowed—the indication is that Gallardo has been unlucky with the long ball.

There’s that if you want to be optimistic. But while there is such a thing as misleading regression, Gallardo‘s looks like it’s of the real variety.

This is a struggling pitcher we’re talking about, so you’ll have to excuse my eyes for rushing to see Gallardo‘s velocity readings. They were down last year and, sure enough, they’re down again this year.

Here’s Gallardo‘s average fastball velocity since 2011 according to Baseball Info Solutions by way of FanGraphs:

• 2011: 92.7
• 2012: 91.8
• 2013: 90.5

The progression: “Pretty good” to “OK” to “OK, what the heck is going on?”

This is nature taking its course, as there’s nothing unnatural about a pitcher losing velocity with age. Gallardo is not blind to what’s been going on, as Eno Sarris of FanGraphs pointed out that Gallardo has gone to his sinker more rather than stick with his four-seamer as a primary heater.

The idea there, naturally, is to embrace pitching to contact to get more ground balls. The trouble is that Gallardo‘s ground-ball percentage is actually down from where it was the last two seasons. And according to BrooksBaseball.net, opponents have a higher batting average and higher ISO against Gallardo‘s sinker than they do against his four-seamer.

*ISO is Isolated Power, which is basically slugging percentage without singles mixed in.

Worth noting: Gallardo has served up four homers on his sinker, and two on his four-seamer.

That’s six homers allowed on hard stuff out of a total of nine given up. It’s certainly normal for pitchers to surrender more long balls on heaters than on secondary offerings, but the fact that the homers are still coming while Gallardo is apparently trying to get more ground balls is not a good sign. 

Gallardo has always been homer-prone, mind you, but it’s a habit that looks all the more worse this year in relation to his .282 batting average against and 3.5 BB/9. That’s about par for the course for Gallardo, as his BB/9 has been in the 3.5-3.6 range every year of the last four except for 2011, when he had a 2.56 BB/9. That looks like a pretty clear outlier now.

His control hasn’t been too far off, however. Per FanGraphs, there’s a disagreement between Baseball Info Solutions and PITCHf/x over what Gallardo‘s Zone% is, and that could be because he’s thrown a lot of balls right on the edges of the plate.

Here’s a plot of Gallardo‘s called strikes and balls from TexasLeaguers.com:

It’s possible Gallardo is a slight adjustment away from being a well above-average strike-thrower, which is something that he’s not right now with a mediocre strike percentage just below 60. Teams interested in trading for him could be thinking as much.

If I’m a team interested in trading for Gallardo, I’m also telling myself that his sinker just needs some work. If it’s developed beyond the experimental phase, he’ll get the ground balls he’s looking for and his dwindling fastball velocity won’t be such a major concern.

But that’s just the thing. If I’m a team looking at Gallardo, I’m looking at him as more of a fixer-upper than a legit ace who’s going to lead me to the playoffs. Such pitchers aren’t worth selling the farm for, even if they are under club control for potentially two more full seasons.

So the Brewers need Gallardo to do them a favor and start stringing some quality outings together over the next few weeks as the season gets closer to the July 31 trade deadline. If he starts to resemble his old self, the Brewers will be able to shop him as a top-of-the-rotation guy worth a nice basket of prospects.

If Gallardo doesn’t get himself straightened out, the Brewers will have to take a fixer-upper price for him.

Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

If you want to talk baseball, hit me up on Twitter. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Milwaukee Brewers ace Yovani Gallardo was arrested and cited for drunken driving early Tuesday morning. Drew Olson of ESPN Wisconsin broke the news, reporting that Gallardo was pulled over at 2:10 a.m. on Interstate 94 near Miller Park for driving too slowly and failing to stay in the lanes.

The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said Gallardo’s blood-alcohol level was .22, nearly three times the legal limit of .08.

UPDATE: Tuesday, April 16, at 12:30 p.m. ET by Matt Fitzgerald

The Brewers issued a brief statement regarding Gallardo’s arrest, as documented by beat writer Adam McCalvy of MLBlogs Network:

We have been made aware of the situation with Yovani and we take this matter very seriously. We have expressed our disappointment to him and know he understands that behavior of this nature is of great concern to everyone in the organization. Yovani has acknowledged the seriousness of this incident and is taking full accountability for his actions.

—End of update—

The 27-year-old will not face jail time for this first-time offense, the sheriff’s office told ESPN Wisconsin, but will have to pay hundreds of dollars in fines for operating a vehicle while intoxicated and for drifting outside of the lanes.

In three 2013 starts, Gallardo sports an 0-1 record with a 6.61 ERA. Though he has struggling early in this young season, the right-handed hurler has posted 200 or more strikeouts in each of the past four seasons, and sub-4.00 ERA in each of his six professional seasons.

Gallardo has no prior criminal record, so this setback is not as bad as it could have been. According to Olson, the pitcher is believed to be the first Brewer to be arrested for drunk driving since John Jaha in 1998.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

It is the happiest time of the year!  Baseball season is set to kick into high gear and most fans are harboring some hope that this could be the year for their favorite squad.

Opening Day can often set the tone for a team’s season. At the very least, it gives fans some hope or despair to start off the six-month grind.

Fans whose teams are pinning their hopes on the following starters are looking to have a bleak Opening Day experience.

Begin Slideshow

As fans and followers of sports, we tend to only take into account what players have done for their teams as of late.  Their success from the season before has corresponded with bigger salaries, more media exposure, higher fantasy rankings and a higher level of respect and dependence.

While the trend for good players is to evolve in the game and continue to get better, there are also those who accomplish statistical breakouts that should warrant some sort of speculation. 

Whether pitchers explode for an exceptional strikeout-to-walk ratio, hitters posting huge power numbers that exceed anything they’ve done in the past, or the simple breakout seasons that players provide every April to October, we need to look at the facts and be more realistic with our calculations.

The players on this list are highly respected, highly valuable and significant parts to their team’s success. 

With that said, many of them have over achieved or have produced inflated stats making these 10 names the most overrated players in the MLB.

Begin Slideshow

The Milwaukee Brewers enter the 2011 season with high hopes and expectations of contending in the National League Central.

The Brewers have gone all in this year. They held onto first baseman Prince Fielder, who will be a free agent after the season, and made a splash with offseason acquisitions such as Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum and Takashi Saito.

Fans can count on some things from the Brewers in 2011. Fielder, Ryan Braun, and Corey Hart will provide steady offensive production. The catcher position will once again be the weakest link in an otherwise potent offense. The sausage races will continue to be a popular attraction at Miller Park.

However, several key factors will determine the fate of the Brewers’ season. Read on to find out what needs to happen for the Brewers to make a deep postseason run.

Begin Slideshow