What is wrong with Gallardo?

[O's are Legends]

Gallardo hasn't recorded a out past the 6th inning in his last 20 starts. I remember him with the explosive fastball with the Brewers, those days are long gone.

Still, recent history indicated six winning innings for Gallardo should be enough. In his last 17 starts with the Texas Rangers in 2015, Gallardo didn't record an out past the sixth inning. His first three starts this year with the Orioles make that 20 straight starts with no more than 18 outs recorded.

As these stats show, may just have to hope he keeps you in the game for about 5-6 innings and that's about it.

Sun

[Roll Tide]

McFarland and Givens showed tonight why Wilson needs to stay when Matusz is activated.

I have a feeling Givens goes when Matusz returns. Not sure who gets the bump when KG is activated. Could be any of McFarland, Wright or Wilson.

[Phantom]

What's crazy is he has a 5.63 ERA and a 0.0% HR/FB.

[Can_of_corn]

What's crazy is he has a 5.63 ERA and a 0.0% HR/FB.

I mentioned his LD rate was a reason for concern.

[Going Underground]

I mentioned his LD rate was a reason for concern.

Well if he had a bad LED rate then he would get lit up.I negative repped myself.

[Il BuonO]

Pitching in warm weather and is struggling to hit 88. Command is just not there. Most pitches at 84-86. It seems his velocity has been going down each start. I was hoping as season progressed he'd gain some velocity. But that hasn't been the case.

Nothing. He's the guy they signed.

[Can_of_corn]

Nothing. He's the guy they signed.

The real question is Why did they sign Gallardo?

Did Dan overestimate the impact the O's defense could have?

Did he back himself into a corner?

Was he under orders to keep the draft budget under a certain number and had to shed a draft pick?

[jabba72]

Gallardo's velocity and K-rates have been trending down every season for awhile. Its why the O's were able to sign him. Im actually encouraged he's hitting 90 MPH on his fastball, that should be effective if he has command.

[Can_of_corn]

Gallardo's velocity and K-rates have been trending down every season for awhile. Its why the O's were able to sign him. Im actually encouraged he's hitting 90 MPH on his fastball, that should be effective if he has command.

He has a career BB rate of 3.3, does that sound like someone with good command?

[Ripken]

The biggest thing that sticks out to me is Gallardo is not very good at pitching anymore.

That was clear LAST year.

[ChuckS]

He has a career BB rate of 3.3, does that sound like someone with good command?

Exactly. This guy is not Mark Buehrle. He can't afford to sit in the 86 to 88 MPH range with his fastball. He needs to be 89-92 with it like he was last year.

Scary to think what teams like the Blue Jays will do to him. I think he will be out of the rotation by mid-season with an ERA likely approaching 6. You know he gets a long leash too based on his contract and the pick we gave up.

It's still way early, but I think your best five are going to be Tillman, Jimenez, Gausman, Wilson, and (yikes) Worley.

[Roll Tide]

The real question is Why did they sign Gallardo? Because all the other options were gone.

Did Dan overestimate the impact the O's defense could have? No

Did he back himself into a corner? Yes, he didn't like the prices and said as much. Then they tried to be cute and sign the guy that they had no competition for.

Was he under orders to keep the draft budget under a certain number and had to shed a draft pick? not really sure about this one but it was a terrible strategy if real. Talk about sacrificing the future!

[jabba72]

He has a career BB rate of 3.3, does that sound like someone with good command?

Nol, but he'll get plenty of starts anyway. Im just trying to look at the bright side. To me, 90 MPH is good because his trends suggested a big drop is coming.

[ChuckS]

Nol, but he'll get plenty of starts anyway. Im just trying to look at the bright side. To me, 90 MPH is good because his trends suggested a big drop is coming.

I don't think it is good. Touching 90 MPH a couple times a game is not throwing 90. His average fastball velocity (I believe) was 90.5 last year. That means he was sitting 89-92. He's lost a good 3-4 MPH off his fastball, which is an even more precipitous drop than the previous seasons. We are talking about a drop in velocity over one season that matches the previous four years combined. The big drop came. It's here.

[Il BuonO]

The real question is Why did they sign Gallardo?

Pandering to the base regarding the upgrades to the team in the offseason.