The Sunday Read: Rangers reunion with Joey Gallo makes sense, but …
(AP photo/Lynne Sladky)
Joey Gallo is going to strike out Sunday. He’s probably going to walk, and if he collects a hit during the Rangers-Yankees doubleheader, there’s a good chance it will be a home run.
And any of those three he doesn’t do Sunday, he could very well do Monday as the rain-delayed three-game series concludes at Yankee Stadium.
Gallo hasn’t changed much since the Rangers sent him to New York last season. If anything, he has regressed into the player he has been labeled as by most — poster boy of the three true outcomes.
He was that a lot of his time with the Rangers, but he also showed stretches when he was more. He was hitting above .250 each of the two times he was selected to the American League All-Star team. His defense is Gold Glove-worthy.
But he will enter play Sunday batting .188 with three home runs, albeit in only 64 at-bats. In the 252 at-bats with the Yankees since the trade, he’s a .167 hitter.
Fittingly in the same town where the stock market is crashing, so is Gallo’s stock in his walk year before free agency.
Gallo 0-4 in game 1. No walks. Not in the lineup for the second game of the double bill Sunday. I assume he’ll play Monday, but he might sit. Who knows? The guy from WFAN that talked with Matt Hicks during game two sidestepped, but acknowledged Joey’s poor performance as a Yankee. They are over him. I’m sure Gallo would love to play well against his former team, which is why he probably won’t. I absolutely hope he won’t come back to the Rangers. Please no.
I understand where you’re coming from. There’s a mental component there that is worrisome.
At best offer him a one year “pillow deal” to see if he can improve his value in Texas. He just does not seem to fit the team the Rangers are trying to develop.
I think two or three years would be reasonable. I think he is a fit, but not if he isn’t producing.
“Chris Woodward could structure a lineup that would give Gallo more chances to get better pitches to hit.”
He’s in a pretty good lineup now. Good guy, I like him, I think though that both sides are better served to just move on.
I thought I replied to this. You make a valid point on the Yankees’ lineup.
team been there, done that.no.good guy but not someone you want with game on the line.
Thanks for your comment. I think the shift is a pretty big X factor here. If it goes away, his numbers improve. The Rangers can’t bet on it going away, though.
He still must learn to go the other way because he obviously has enough power to hit it out anywhere. Just no reason for him to continue to try to be a dead pull hitter. Shorten up, put the ball in play and I guarantee he’ll still hit 35-40 homers every year.