Saturday, November 13, 2010

GALLARDO WINS NL SILVER SLUGGER AWARD

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher and Michoacan native Yovani Gallardo has been named the National League’s Silver Slugger award winner for 2010 as the senior circuit’s best-hitting pitcher. The 24-year-old right-hander batted .254 with four homers and 10 RBIs in 63 at-bats for Milwaukee.

The award capped off what was a second solid season for Gallardo. Coming off a 13-12 year in 2009, he turned in a 14-7 record with 200 strikeouts and a 3.84 ERA while being picked to represent the National League in his first All-Star Game. For his career, Gallardo is 36-24 with 525 whiffs in 505 innings pitched. At the plate, he’s batted .218 with eight homers and 24 ribbies in 170 ABs.

He also signed a five-year, $30.1 million contract extension with the Brewers in April, but it wasn’t a carpet ride throughout the 2010 campaign for Gallardo, however. He was injured shortly after being selected for the All-Star Game and wasn’t able to pitch, and he was robbed at gunpoint (along with clubhouse attendant Alex Sanchez) at a Milwaukee supermarket in August.

Gallardo was born in the Mexican state of Michoacan but attended high school in Fort Worth, Texas before Milwaukee made him a second-round draft pick in 2004. He lives with his wife and son in Fort Worth in the off-season.

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