Yovani Gallardo is 23 years old. He has been in the major leagues for roughly 23 months and pitched in all of 31 games, with No. 32 slated for tonight in St. Louis, where the Brewers open a three-game series against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Those credentials may not scream "ace of the staff," but virtually everyone who has seen the Brewers over the past two-plus seasons would agree that Gallardo deserves that unofficial title. It's not just numbers, either, although they are impressive (13-8 record, 3.28 earned run average, 168 strikeouts and 61 walks in 181 innings).

While some young pitchers practically bounce off the walls of the clubhouse while adjusting to the mental stress of playing in the big leagues, Gallardo, a second-round draft pick in 2004, carries himself with a sense of grace and calm that belies his youth and masks a fiery competitive spirit.

Ryan Braun calls Gallardo "one of the nicest people I've ever met," but that doesn't mean the right-hander is soft. Gallardo is one of the tougher competitors on the team, as shown when he battled back from a knee injury to help the team in the playoffs.

OnMilwaukee.com spoke to Gallardo in the clubhouse after a recent game and asked some simple questions to gain a window into what makes him tick.

OnMilwaukee.com: Every day at the ballpark, there are more and more kids wearing "Gallardo" jerseys. When you were a kid, who was your favorite player?

Yovani Gallardo: Probably Nolan Ryan, because I grew up in Texas. He was a pitcher and I'm a pitcher. If there was a baseball game on TV when I was a kid, it was either the Rangers, Houston or Atlanta. I saw him pitch in person a couple times. It was always fun. He was my favorite.

OMC: Not including the guys on your team, who is your favorite player in the big leagues today?

YG: My favorite player now is probably (Albert) Pujols. He's a good all-round player and he plays hard. Another guy I like is (Carlos) Beltran (of the Mets). He's the same type of guy. You see them hustling every time they are out there on the field. They're trying to do everything they can to win the game. Another guy like that is (Jose) Reyes. They were talking about him on TV the other day. I think it was (Gary) Sheffield, who said he plays really hard. Those guys all do the little things. They hustle. They run hard on every groundball and every flyball. They play the game the right way and do the things little that catch your attention.

OMC: Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins is seen as a guy who doesn't always play his hardest. Since you got to the big leagues, you've always been considered a guy who tries his hardest all the time. What do you think it is about some guys that makes them try hard all the time? Do you think it has something to do with their families and the way they were brought up, or is it something that you learn in the minor leagues and by being around veteran players?

YG: It might be a little bit of both. For me, I just try to leave everything on the field. I've always played that way, coming up from the minor leagues. I was raised that way. You've just got to enjoy it when you're up here.

I bet if you asked every one of those guys (Pujols, Beltran and Reyes), they'd say something different. It's the way they were raised and the way they were taught to play the game. More than anything, it's just being competitive and trying to go out there and win a game every day.

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Posted by Gomez on May 15, 2009 at 3:37 p.m. (report)

What do the guys on AM1250 insist on calling him YoGo? Wouldn't it be YoGa or YoGuy if anything. Or why not just call him Yovani or Gallardo. Just a thought.