Joey Gallo in his time at Hickory.

Today, I will be starting with my series on the future of the Rangers by looking at minor league phenom Joey Gallo. Gallo has been called everything from, “the most interesting man in the minors” to 2014 Futures Game participant. He has warranted all of this with his play on the field and his major league potential. He has gotten to this point with a lot of work. He worked out with Jason Giambi and Troy Tulowitzki, a former MVP and possible future MVP. Giambi mainly helped him with his approach at the plate. Giambi said about that offseason work, “we really sat down and started talking, going through and helping him with his mental approach at the plate.” That was something he certainly needed help with. In 2013 Gallo did hit 40 home runs, but he also struck out 172 times. He looked to be one of those players that would hit for power in the minors, but not make enough contact to be able to hit in the majors. The question is how did he go from the guy with a lot of power and no plate discipline to a guy who is now being looked at as future phenom. In this post I will examine his past, his present, and his future with the Rangers organization.

Joey Gallo was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. He would go on to become one of the best high school baseball players in the country. In his time at Bishop Gorman High School he played on the varsity baseball team for 4 years and accumulated 67 home runs and a .466 average. He topped it off with a senior season that saw him hit .509 with 21 home runs. He committed to play college ball at LSU, but the Rangers still drafted him 39th overall in the 2012 draft and paid him $2.25 million to come play for them. The question then becomes how was he still available at pick 39? Gallo had participated in the National High School Invitational in late March of his senior year. It is an event highly attended by Major League scouts. In the event he went 1-8 with 4 strikeouts. Todd Guggiana is Rangers area scout and said about the event and Gallo’s performance, “he swung and missed a ton … I think that tournament scared a lot of teams off.” That and his committment to LSU meant he may be a hard sign, but the Rangers were not deterred. They had seen his potential during his high school season and still drafted him. He was immediately assigned to the Arizona Rookie League. He quickly adjusted to using a wood bat. In this short season league he would go on to have a .293 BA, 18 home runs, a .435 OBP, and a 1.169 OPS. His K/BB ratio was also decent, 52k/37 BB. For his effort he would win the Arizona Rookie League MVP and earn a late season callup to Low A ball Spokane.

2013 would see him spend most of his time in A-ball playing for Hickory. He would be one of the youngest players in that league at just 19 years old.  The Rangers organization were obviously trying to see if he could make the adjustments necessary. His power numbers played well in that league as he hit 38 home runs for the Crawdads and led the team and the league in home runs. His slugging and OPS numbers were also off the charts. He slugged .610 and a had a .944 OPS. His other numbers though were worrisome. His OBP dropped from .412 to .338 in 2013 and he struck out 172 times and only walked 50 times. While power is a great equalizer the Texas Rangers and Joey knew that he could be better than he was in 2013. Power alone would not get him to the majors. The pitchers in the majors are too good to be successful with only one weapon. Gallo knew he needed to work on getting on base more and striking out less. In a piece that ran on Grantland, Gallo admitted about 2013, “Last year I just kind of went up and swung, hoping everything would be a fastball.” Pitchers seized on that and that is the reason why his OBP numbers dipped and his strikeout numbers rose. After his 2012 debut, 2013 felt like a step backwards. Gallo was going to go one of two directions after this season. He either was going to become all or nothing power guy or he was going to become a professional hitter.

This is where Jason Giambi enters the picture. Giambi in the early 2000’s took his money that he had earned from his time with the Yankees and had opened up batting cages that employed Joey’s dad Tony. When the economy tanked later in the decade the cages closed, but Jason stayed in touch with Tony and his son Joey. Tony would then start working at the Philippi Sports Institute that Jason Giambi would frequent. One day Joey and Jason were both working and Joey asked, “Hey can you help me with my hitting this year?” They started work during the offseason and Giambi was just trying to prepare him for the upcoming season. Things he could fall back on when he was struggling. Giambi said, “The biggest thing I wanted to teach Joey was self-awareness of his swing, where he didn’t really need anybody to help him,” Giambi has the reputation of a good hitter and was able to get through to him. Troy Tulowitzki also participated by helping Gallo with his footwork in the field. Gallo through the work and time put in was showing that he was not happy just being labeled a power hitter, he wanted to become a great hitter that also hits for power. Giambi says about what he told Gallo at the end of it, “I gave him a bunch of keys to work through the year, to kind of give him like a little sheet, like a cheat sheet, to help him with his swing when he’s not feeling right.”. Gallo certainly put in the work, but would it translate to the field.

2014 saw him start the year at Myrtle Beach in High-A ball. Again he was one of the youngest members in the league at 20 years old, but this time he excelled in all aspects of the game. In his two months plus in Myrtle Beach he hit .323, with 21 home runs, .463 OBP, and a 1.199 OPS. All of these numbers were closer to his numbers when he was in rookie ball in 2012. He became impossible to pitch to. His strikeout to walk ratio was also acceptable at 64K/51 BB. It became apparent to Rangers management that he needed to be promoted and on June 10th he made his debut with the Frisco Rough Riders and did this.

He hit a walk off home run in his debut. Since then he has just continued to hit home runs as he has 7 home runs in the last 3 weeks. His other numbers have taken a hit though. His OBP is down to .353, his OPS is down to .997, and his K/BB is 29/9. They say the biggest jump is from A to AA. He still is only 20 years old. Let me repeat that, he is 20 years old and is holding his own in AA ball. It will be interesting to see what he does the rest of the season. Can he get his batting average back up to the high .200’s? Will he make an adjustment to the higher level of Double-A pitching? How many home runs will he end the season with?

One thing I do know though is his future with the Rangers is very bright. There is already talk in the Dallas media of him opening up next season as the starting right fielder. I don’t know about that. I do think he will spend some time on the major league team next season and could be the opening day 3rd baseman come 2016. Adrian Beltre is not getting any younger and his contract ends after the 2015 season if the Rangers do not pick up his option and 2016 if they do. If they do not trade Beltre this season, I could see it working out in one of two ways. First, Gallo plays 3rd and Beltre DH’s. That would still keep Beltre and his dangerous bat in the lineup and allow Gallo to get his at-bats as well. I could also see Gallo playing 3rd, Beltre shifting to 1st, and Prince Fielder becoming the DH. Whatever happens by 2016, unless there is injury, it will be hard to keep his bat out of the lineup. 2016 is the season I am really expecting the Rangers to be back in contention for the division and the World Series and Gallo will be in the center of that. He profiles to me to be a guy that can get on base at a good clip and hit around .280-.310 and be a yearly 40 home run candidate. He will be the future Rangers number 3 hitter. That time unfortunately is not now. It is coming though. As soon as next season I expect him to be among the first call-ups if someone gets injured. That is what Rangers fans have to look forward to in what is turning out to be a very disappointing season for them.