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.

OMC: Who are your closest friends in the big leagues?

YG: Probably the only guy is Jorge De La Rosa from the Rockies. He played here and I still talk to him. I also talk to Elmer Dessens. Outside of this team, I still keep in touch with those guys.

OMC: Who is your closest friend on this team? I'm guessing it's Carlos (Villanueva).

YG: Yeah, probably me and him. But, everybody on this team is pretty close. We have a young team and we all kind of came up together. I played with (Ryan) Braun and Manny (Parra) in the minor leagues and guys like Prince (Fielder) and Rickie (Weeks) and J.J. (Hardy) and Corey (Hart). That's a young team. It helps a lot. It keeps us together. We hang out together.

OMC: What is your favorite road city and favorite park to play in besides Miller Park?

YG: My favorite park is probably (Citi Field) in New York. This is the first year I pitched in it, but I enjoyed it a lot. It's a good baseball atmosphere.

OMC: You like being on the big stage?

YG: Yeah. Everything there is big. As far as the road, I like going back to Houston. I always have family there.

OMC: Too bad the Brewers don't play the Rangers in interleague play.

YG: That would be nice. I just missed that series two years ago when I came up.

OMC: Did you go see the Rangers a lot as a kid?

YG: Yeah. I watched them in the old stadium that they had and then the new one. It was always fun. Just growing up, for me, it was baseball, baseball, baseball. I enjoyed it a lot. I pretty much tried to play and watch as much as I could.

OMC: I've talked to some guys that have strict routines before a start, right down to eating certain foods on the night before they pitch. Are you one of those guys?

YG: I don't have anything like that.

OMC: What's your favorite food?

YG: Obviously, home cooking is going to be No. 1. I like Mexican food. But, I like different things. I'm pretty much willing to try anything.

OMC: Do you have any other superstitions? You always seem pretty relaxed and -- normal, for lack of a better word -- on the day that you pitch.

YG: I guess that's one of the things I learned from seeing CC Sabathia and (Ben) Sheets last year. On the days they were pitching, they were the same guys around the clubhouse.

Obviously, every starting pitcher has their own routine. To me, that helps me stay relaxed and not think about the game too early. When the time comes, you can really focus.

OMC: How do you kill time on the road? Are you a video game guy?

YG: Not too much. I like to play some old Mario games on the computer. Super Mario. I like to do that.

OMC: What about TV shows?

YG: I like to watch "The First 48" (a crime-scene investigation show on A&E) and the CSI-types of shows. I watch "Unsolved Mysteries" and things like that. I never really paid attention to those shows until I watched one day. I really kind of like it now.

OMC: What do you like to do to decompress away from the ballpark? What's a day off like at home?

YG: I just spend time with the family and see how it plays out. I might go to a park and play with my little boy a bit. We go up to the bowling alley up at Bayshore, the iPic.

OMC: Do you get recognized when you go around town, or do people leave you alone?

YG: Every now and then, people do recognize me but they're pretty good about it. They may say "Good job" or whatever, but it's not too much. I think, more than anything, they know that it's away from the park and I'm just trying to relax.

OMC: Most guys who play here say Milwaukee fans are pretty good about giving players space.

YG: It is good. I haven't had any problem at all. It's good.