New York Yankees slugger Joey Gallo is a guy who has fallen victim to the shift several times in his career.
His start to the 2022 season has been about as bad as you can get.
Though he finally hit a couple home runs during the Yankees’ series against the Baltimore Orioles, his stats still don’t look good.
Even with the monkey off his back, things aren’t getting any easier for him.
Here’s a guy who has to deal with the exaggerated shift on a constant basis.
Yankees writer Lindsey Adler tweeted a photo of the Orioles’ defense when Gallo was at the plate for the Yanks on Thursday afternoon.
Orioles are using a 5.5 man outfield against Joey Gallo. pic.twitter.com/9s4QpXNJZq
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) April 28, 2022
The Shift
Who’s ready for the shift to be banned?
Gallo certainly is.
The exaggerated shift has hurt several players’ careers over the years, with one of the best examples being Matt Carpenter.
It’s hard for a guy to find holes with there are five or six defenders on one side of the field.
A guy like Gallo could hit a ball right on the nose and still get unlucky because a defender is right there.
It’s happened to so many players over the years, Gallo being one of them.
The Orioles were essentially using a 5.5-man outfield against him in his at-bat.
Hitting against that kind of shift is nearly impossible.
But it’s going away soon, and that should help somebody like Gallo, who has fallen victim to it far too many times.
Things will look quite a bit different in 2023 with the new rules.
We’ll see what kind of shifts team use this year before it becomes a thing of the past next year.
NEXT: Joey Gallo Has A Nice Streak After An Awful Start