Gallardo: Better than Sheets?

[adambr2]

From what I've heard, Gallardo is the best pitching prospect we've had since, well, Ben Sheets. Does he really have that much upside? That would be wonderful, it's just that my knowledge on the guy is very limited. All I have are the stats. Can anyone who knows a little bit more about the guy than me shed some light on what we can expect and how quickly? Thanks.

[pogokat]

he doesnt throw quite as hard as ben does now, but then ben didnt throw in the high 90's until a few years ago...

 

Yo is certainly close to Ben in ability

[molitor fan]

Yo is certainly close to Ben in ability

 

Whoa Whoa whoa.

 

I think that is way too premature a comment. Yes, the command looks great, but in terms of pure stuff, not really close.

[pogokat]

Yo hits 94 and works in the 91-93 range...i think he's comprable...he's a big step up fom guys like hendrickon that top out at 91 and have less control...

 

I think david Weiser said late in the season that he thought yo was a better pitcher at AA than Sheets was...that's crazy high praise

[plowjockey]

If you're talking pure tools, Sheets and Nuegebauer had an abundance. However, Gallardo's ability to be a pitcher, and just plain get people out is as good as I've seen at this stage of his development in some time.

[JohnBriggs12]

In comparing the 2, keep in mind that Gallardo is now the exact same age as Sheets was when he was drafted.

 

Sheets was what, number 10 or 11 in the 99 draft?

 

Does anyone out there think that if a draft were held today and Gallardo was in it, that he wouldn't be a top 5 pick?

 

It's unfair to compare 20 year old Gallardo with 28 year old Sheets, but I'd have to think his stuff is as good as Sheets' was back in 99.

 

Besides in determining who is better, the criterea is more than a number on a radar gun. If all that determined a guy's ability was pitch speed, why bother having scouts or paying any attention to how batters react to pitches?

[pogokat]

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Besides in determining who is better, the criterea is more than a number on a radar gun. If all that determined a guy's ability was pitch speed, why bother having scouts or paying any attention to how batters react to pitches?

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both have well established and well known impeccable control...so that seems to be a draw between the two

[colbyjack]

I just want to point out that prior to the 2004 draft I projected the Rangers to take Yo with the 10th overall pick. When he fell to the Brewers pick in the 2nd round I was thrilled, as he reminded me of our 2nd round pick from 2001, J.J. Hardy, who also was considered a steal at the time.

[DHonks]

Remember that Yo has command of what, 3 or 4 pitches? Ben has 2 pitches. Supposedly there's a cutter, 2seamer, and changeup in there, but we see them a total of 20 pitches per season, mostly in Coors.

[And That]

Remember that Yo has command of what, 3 or 4 pitches? Ben has 2 pitches.

 

Both of Ben's pitches are plus-plus when on. I don't think Yo's fastball or slurve are anywhere near Ben's best two pitches at this point in time, nor do I think either of the pitches have the high-end plus-plus upside of Ben's two best pitches.

 

All that said, if Yo can get his change into the average-to-plus area, he could be as good as Ben some day. I have the same apprehensions about Gallardo that I did about Sheets coming out of AA: irregardless of stuff, will they be able to translate their natural pitchability to the bigs? Both are tremendous atheletes with shots to be top-end starters. Sheets has mostly fulfilled all my wildest expectations of him, sans the injury bug.

 

Will Gallardo be the next Sheets, the next Bush, or the next Ty Hill? Dunno, but I have a good feeling about the kid... a similar gut feeling I had with Sheets, even though they are different pitchers.

 

My guess is that (as always, barring injury) Yo will be up sometime in June or July and be here to stick. At worst, he'll be as good as Villanueva was this past year. At best, he'll be the 2007 version of the 1992 Cal Eldred.

[lithium75]

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Both are tremendous atheletes

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Don't mean to be picky, but calling Sheets a tremendous athlete is a bit of a stretch. Anyone who has watched Sheets run, field his position or bat can see that he has trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time. He is a good pitcher. He can throw a baseball fast and accurately. That, however is the extent of his athletic prowess.

 

Gallardo would have been drafted in the first 5 rounds as a position player had he not been able to pitch. If Sheets couldn't pitch, he'd be teaching people how to paint their bathrooms as a sales consultant at Home Depot.

 

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to discredit anything Toby has said, just wanted to take the time to pick on Sheets a little.

[And That]

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to discredit anything Toby has said, just wanted to take the time to pick on Sheets a little.

 

No, I understand. I just think of it as: if your shoulder can flip over and leverage a ball 99 MPH at the plate, you're a better athelete than I. Heck, I'd take 59.

[lithium75]

I am not a fan of the Sheets/Gallardo comparisons. They are very different pitchers. Sheets is more of a Nolan Ryan type fireballer, and Gallardo seems more like a young Kevin Brown. Thankfully, he checked the "IAM the center of the universe" attitude at the door.

[pogokat]

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Sheets is more of a Nolan Ryan type fireballer,

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nolan ryan had no control...sheets might have the best control in the majors...they are very very different pitchers

[thebruce44]

Anyone who has watched Sheets run, field his position or bat can see that he has trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time.

 

Speculation here:

 

How much of that has been due to his bad back throughout his early years? It came out after his surgury a couple years ago that there were times he was told to just stand there and not swing when he would go up. If that is the case, I can reasonably assume that he was not taking much BP. It would be difficult even for Pujols to hit MLB pitching if it was not something he practiced.

 

A healthy Ben Sheets through his early years could have avoided the poor fielder/batter label that has been tagged on him.

[lithium75]

Yeah, I was going to compare Sheets to Mike Scott, but just didn't want to go there

[UndraftedFA]

I Pretty much doubt Sheets will ever be a hitter, even by pitchers standards. I remember him saying he was DH'd for in High School baseball. It might have been one of Ben's jokes though.

 

Even if Yo turns out to be a Dave Bush type, I think that's pretty decent. I, like others, wouldn't be surprised if he(Bush) was the Next Brewer to throw a no-hitter. By the way I'm a pretty big fan of Dave Bush. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

It's pretty exciting to have Inman and Yo in the system, both seem to have a great head on their shoulders regarding pitching. Hopefully, one or both turn out to be as effective as Sheets.

[plowjockey]

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nolan ryan had no control

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Interesting choice of words. Nolan Ryan - Hall of Fame pitcher, played 27 years in the bigs, with 324 wins, 5,000 strikeouts and a career whip of 1.25. And all that with no control. As I have stated many times before. BFN -- Tough room.

[And That]

And all that with no control.

 

Lifetime Walks Allowed Leaderboard

 

And the second guy isn't even close. Sheets walks about a couple dozen guys a year, Ryan did that over the course a few weeks.

[plowjockey]

I'm not denying those facts at all. Sheets' control is wonderful. All I'm saying is that someone a lot smarter than me kept trotting Ryan out there for 5,386 innings. Want to call it average control? Sure. Below average control? I'd take that. No control - wrong.

[And That]

To use a cliche, Ryan was effectively (very) wild, especially in the first half of his career. Ryan walked 200+ guys in a year twice - that screams to me that he just didn't know where the ball was going most of the time. I guess it is just semantics, though... no one is denying that Ryan was a great pitcher.

[Team Canada]

All I'm saying is that someone a lot smarter than me kept trotting Ryan out there for 5,386 innings.

 

But what does that really have to do with control? Obviously too pitch that long you have to be good, but that doesn't mean his control was that great. And arguing "below average" versus "no control" is mostly semantics.

[plowjockey]

I'm not a stat guy. Is 1.25 whip good or bad? I'm not being a wise guy, I really do not know.

[pogokat]

Ryan was unhittable...

 

his 1.25 WHIP was good...but i would guess that 50% of the baserunners he allowed were through walk..

 

Nolan Ryan is one of the more unique players in baseball history

[saget]

WHIP is "walks or hits per inning pitched" so 1.25 baserunners per inning is quite delicious.