Who better to focus our attention on than tonight's man of the hour?
- Yovani was selected in the 2nd round of the 2004 draft with the 46th overall pick. Mark Rogers was the Brewers first pick. The player chosen right before Gallardo was D-Rays prospect Reid Brignac, while pitcher Justin Hoyman was chosen after. A few players from that round have already made the bigs (including Dustin Pedroia), but as far as I can tell, Gallardo will be the first high schooler to make the jump.
- Gallardo will be the 21st player in big league history with a first name that begins with "Y." There really aren't that many, as that list includes nicknames such as those of Yo-Yo Davalillo and two guys named "Yank." Gallardo has a good shot at becoming the best ever pitcher with a "Y" name (he'll have to keep ahead of Yusmeiro Petit), but it'll take one heck of a career to become the best overall by surpassing Yogi Berra. In case you're wondering, Petit coughed up a long ball to Barry Bonds, so while a dinger against Gallardo would be Barry's first strike against Trimble Technical High School, it wouldn't be his first against a Y-guy.
- His favorite movie is Zoolander. I hope he's an ambi-turner.
- Gallardo's wikipedia article needs some serious help. Not only has it been flagged by a wikignome for lack of sources, but it also sucks. I appreciate the sentiment behind the claim that "Gallardo is a candidate to add on to the greatness that is the Brewers pitching staff," but I wonder if Jimmy Wales would approve.
- Yovani is awesome. His career minor league ERA coming into this year was 2.38, and he kept it under 3.00 this year in his first shot at Triple-A. Not only that: He struck out 110 batters in 77.2 innings in Nashville this year. That, combined with his miniscule walk and home run rates, translates into a FIP of 2.11. He's obviously ready for the next step, and I have no doubt he'll impress in his debut.