When the New York Yankees flipped a few prospects to the Texas Rangers in exchange for outfielder Joey Gallo last year, they thought they were acquiring an impact hitter.
Gallo has been a terrific fielder in the corner outfield spots for the Yankees, but his offense has fallen off a cliff.
Never a high batting average guy, Gallo has fallen well below the Mendoza line while wearing pinstripes.
Many analysts and fans believed he would eventually settle in and produce, but that hasn’t happened, and the sample size is now big enough to conclude that a turnaround is highly unlikely to occur.
“Joey Gallo in 135 games as a New York Yankee: .159 AVG, .292 OBP, .365 SLG….24 HRs, 188 Ks,” Codify Baseball tweeted.
Joey Gallo in 135 games as a New York Yankee:
.159 AVG, .292 OBP, .365 SLG….24 HRs, 188 Ks— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) July 22, 2022
Those are extremely ugly numbers for Gallo.
Gallo Worked Hard To Improve, But It Just Hasn’t Happened For Him In New York
It’s sad, because he is a lifelong Yankees fan and worked very hard on his craft.
Things haven’t worked out for him, though, and it’s becoming evident that he is hurting the team more than he is helping it.
A trade might be in the best interest of everybody involved: Gallo, the Yankees, and the player’s family.
He is talented enough to turn his career around somewhere else, perhaps even with a contender, and go back to being the guy capable of hitting 40 homers per season with at least 100 walks.
When he is at his best, Gallo can be a .215/.360/.490 guy, like he was for the Rangers in the first half of 2021.
It is becoming evident that it may not happen on the Yankees, though.
It’s part of baseball, and nobody needs to be ashamed to admit it.
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