As O's debut nears, Yovani Gallardo talks declining strikeout rates and more

When the Orioles added 30-year-old right-hander Yovani Gallardo to their starting rotation, they knew were getting a veteran pitcher with a solid track record. One that has made 30 or more starts seven consecutive seasons, pitching to a career ERA of 3.66. He's also a pitcher with a career .576 winning percentage at 102-75.

But while Gallardo has been a winning pitcher six of seven seasons since 2009, he has gotten those wins as a different style pitcher in recent seasons. Once a guy who averaged nearly 10 strikeouts for every nine innings, his strikeout rate has decreased in recent years. Yet he has still had success.

2012: strikeouts per nine innings rate of 9.0 and 3.66 ERA
2013: strikeouts per nine innings rate of 7.2 and 4.18 ERA
2014: strikeouts per nine innings rate of 6.8 and 3.51 ERA
2015: strikeouts per nine innings rate of 5.9 and 3.42 ERA

Last season, Gallardo produced a career-worst rate of strikeouts per nine, but his career-best ERA. Has Gallardo morphed into a different pitcher through the years?

"Yeah, I think you have to," he said before Monday's season opener. "Pitching in this game for eight or nine years, you learn a lot of things. Early in my career, to be honest, you want to get that strikeout and that ran my pitch count up. As I got older, I realized it is a little bit easier to get that ground ball. And you can do it in the first two or three pitches. It allows you to go deeper into games. Not as stressful as throwing five or six pitches to hitters each time out.

"I know there is a lot of talk about velocity and strikeouts. But I feel pretty confident in the way I have pitched throughout my career and I'm still confident of getting the job done."

So are the Orioles, who signed him to a two-year deal with a club option for a third season. They also gave up the No. 14 pick in the draft to sign him.

As Gallardo makes his Orioles debut tonight, he is indeed a different pitcher from the guy who put up big strikeout numbers. He was never a mid-90s velocity pitcher, but Gallardo's average fastball in recent years was just over 90 mph. Who wouldn't love to pump 98 mph fastballs? But he can't do that and has found other ways to get hitters out.

"It is nice to have that," he said. "Not taking anything from the guys that have the big velocity. They maybe can get away with a few things. But the most important thing is knowing how to pitch. How to keep that hitter off balance instead of just trying to throw it by the guy."

With all the criticism the O's starting rotation got for its poor performance last year, is that unit on the spot now?

"Honestly, not really," Gallardo said. "I heard a little bit about it during spring. The guys are excited to show what we are capable of doing and be out there competing and taking on the challenge. We need to be consistent. That is most important.

"We're excited. It's a great group. There is a lot of talent in this clubhouse. We have one goal in mind - to prove everybody wrong. There has been talk they (analysts making predictions) are not counting on us, but we're up for that challenge."