Prior to the 2021 season, the last time I saw Richard Gallardo was the only time I saw Richard Gallardo. He came up to Eugene in late August 2019 and made a couple of surprise appearances. It was only four innings, but the top international signing prospect of 2018 had changed quite a bit since the Cubs signed him.
Originally, Gallardo was a somewhat tall and skinny kid who was known for having command of three pitches. The player we saw at Eugene was substantially bigger and the fastball that was supposed to be 89 to 91 was sitting around 93 to 95.
As a result of those two games, I was a little bit giddy in looking forward to the 2020 season. I was certain that Gallardo would be at South Bend and I would get to watch him pitch quite a bit over the course of the year as a 19-year-old. We all know what happened to change that view.
Now that 2021 is here, Gallardo is at low A, but this time he is in Myrtle Beach.
For whatever reason, until yesterday, I never really sat down and took a look at just exactly how he was doing this year.
My biggest concern for any young Latin pitcher coming in stateside is the amount of game experience that they have. Sometimes it takes a year or two for things to start clicking. Once they do, they tend to take off. According to Arizona Phil, Gallardo was originally slated to be in the bullpen for whatever reason. But injuries changed that in spring training and he was back in the rotation to start the year, where he should be.
For the month of May, Gallardo made five uneven starts. The Cubs have been managing his workload as he has yet to throw over 75 pitches. For most of his starts, he’s thrown a mixture of 40-50 pitches per game and one of 74.
I decided to go back and watch all but one of his starts this past weekend. I skipped his first start on May 7 where he gave up 3 runs in one inning.
Here are some thoughts on the others…
May 14 vs. Augusta
Gallardo threw 3 innings, gave up a run on 2 hits, walked and had 3 Ks. He used 49 pitches, 29 for strikes. The first two innings were very efficient. He didn’t use a lot of pitches and he flashed a good looking fastball, but the shapes on his curve and slider were a bit inconsistent.
May 19 vs. Lynchburg
This was easily his best start of the year. He went 4 innings, allowed 0 hits, and struck out 4. There were a lot of popups and groundouts. In fact, there was not really any loud contact on the day. It was a very impressive outing.
May 25 vs. Salem
This start saw 1 bad inning where he gave up 3 runs. This early part of his career is really going to be about developing pitches that he can consistently throw for strikes and that complement his fastball. Right now, the fastball is his best pitch. It has some nice armside run to it. He does have trouble up in the zone with it.
May 29 vs Salem
This was a strange game for me as Gallardo threw on 3 days rest. He was only allowed to throw 51 pitches but that turned out to be a very efficient 4 innings. He gave up two runs and the big inning reared its head again. Still, the fastball looked good, the curve looked different each time he threw it and he mixed in a slider.
In this so far short season, he has gotten in 16.2 innings with 15 Ks and a 4.86 ERA. If you throw out that first one start, it shrinks to 3.45, which is probably much more in line with his talents and capabilities right now.
When he’s on, he is very hard to hit. The fastball moves quite a bit, the curve and slider can be a nice distraction from the fastball. At just 20-years-old, you have to like where this going. He’s a young kid who is still growing and filling out. As he does, he has to get used to throwing with that new body. That is what I am seeing.
As the year goes on, we should begin to see some month-to-month improvement, especially on the shape of his curve and consistency of his 4 seam up in the zone. To go from rookie league to a year off to Low A is quite an adjustment and Gallardo is getting there. Over the rest of this year and next year, Gallardo is going to be fun to watch as he gains game experience, works on those shapes, and just gets used to pitching for a full season at a time.
He should be starting tonight at home against Columbia and I will be tuning in as he has 6 full days off in between starts. He should be well rested and ready to go.
Cubs Central 
Todd, very nice breakdown. For me, Gallardo is one of the more interesting young pitchers in the Cubs organization. As young as he is and with not having last year to get better against live competition, not surprised his curve and slider need to gain consistency. But I think this young man has great potential.
Good stuff again, thanks!
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I’m a big fan of the wide skillset he seems to be building. He’s walking hitters like 3% better than league average, keeps the ball in the park extremely well, keeps the ball on the ground…Next year could be huge, I’m thinking he’ll be solid this season too.
He’d be among players I keep out of trades this deadline: Howard, Davis, Gallardo, Quintero, Hernandez
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