DETROIT — Joey Gallo was out of the lineup Wednesday after going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts on Tuesday night.
“I mean, whatever’s best for the team. I know I haven’t been getting great results right now,” Gallo said before the Yankees took on the Tigers at Comerica Park. “It’s part of the process of playing the full season and whatnot. There’s guys playing really well, helping us win games. So I think that it’s more important that these guys are gonna help us win and while I’m figuring it out.”
Gallo had four hits through 11 games — all of them singles. He walked six times and struck out 15 times in 33 at-bats this season.
He’s slashed .121/.256/.121 with a .378 OPS so far this season.
Gallo has struggled since being traded to the Yankees from the Rangers at last year’s deadline. In 58 games last season, Gallo slashed .160/.303/.404 with 13 homers in 118 at-bats. He struck out 88 times as a Yankee and 213 times overall in 2021.
Aaron Boone said the Yankees expect Gallo to get on base and hit for power. Right now he’s not doing either.
He spent Wednesday in the cages “working his (butt) off,” according to first-year hitting coach Dillon Lawson, who’s actually encouraged by what Gallo so far this year. Lawson even used Gallo as an example of how the Yankees’ offense is ready to break out.
“Look at what Joey Gallo is doing to pitches in the strike zone,” Lawson said. “Where it’s not his typical MO, where he just hits balls hard, but how frequently he’s hitting balls right now is something that he’s done in the past, and he’s always had results come with it. And so right now, that would be one of those things that shows itself before the results. Where his contact rate on strikes right now is it’s major league average. It isn’t like he’s swinging and missing 10% more or 20% more… like you might see in a normal cold streak for a player.
“He’s doing a great job of making contact and when he does make contact, it’s hard contact,” Lawson continued. “It’s just right at an infielder or it’s right at an outfielder or he hits a ball that isn’t out for the first time in 131 balls like it ‘s been in the past.”
Gallo is an extreme example of the Yankees’ offensive struggles. They went into Wednesday night’s game: 26th in the majors in runs scored (34); 20th in OPS (.657); 24th in slugging (.346); 27th in hitting with runners in scoring position (.208); and 27th in hitting with RISP and two outs (.100).
“We are all trying to settle in and so I fully expect the offensive outburst with runs to show itself,” Lawson said. “But I think if you look at a lot of the process, the way that guys are going about at bats, the things that happen right before the results show themselves, all of those things are really going well. So some of the things that the lack of the runs crossing surprised me and given the fact that the hitters are as prepared as they are and they have good approaches at the plate, and then even some of the stuff where it’s like quality contact without the ball finding green grass.
“So I’m looking forward to the offensive outbursts, but I’m really excited about the process that guys have gone through, up to this point.”
GOOD TO GO
Without delving into the personal medical history of his players, Boone confirmed again that he expects the Yankees to have a full roster when they head to Toronto on May 1.
Unvaccinated players were given an exemption last year to travel to Canada and play the Blue Jays at the end of the 2021 season. That exemption expired in January and was not renewed. No foreigners are allowed to travel to Canada without being fully vaccinated.
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