Joey Gallo’s patience plan pays off with homer, walk

Young Rangers slugger Joey Gallo had two significant at-bats in Friday’s game. The first was a mammoth home run to dead center off left-hander Dillon Overton (former Oklahoma Sooner) in the fourth.

The other was a six-pitch walk in the sixth in which got ahead 3-0, took a strike, fouled off a pitch and then laid off a slider in the dirt.

It was an example of the patience Gallo has tried to improve of the plate.

“I was happy with both of them,” said Gallo, who is 2 for 13 with seven strikeouts this spring.

The homer was his first of the spring and it came on a high fastball.

“I caught up to fit, that’s always a good sign,” he said. “I was feeling good yesterday.”

Manager Jeff Banister has liked Gallo’s swing early this spring, despite the lack of results.

“Those are things he’s been working on, to continue the at-bat, stay patient, and swing at pitches in the zone that are his pitches to swing at,” Banister said.

Early in the spring, Gallo has tried to see more pitches, being even more selective than his new desire for patience calls for, to help build up his timing and rhythm in the box.

“It takes time. You start to get your timing and rhythm, you start seeing pitches and tracking pitches. That’s the goal for me, just to stay on an even plane,” he said. “If a pitch is there you swing, but it’s always nice to see six or seven pitches and start to get that feel for the spin, and realizing [the type of] pitches out of the pitcher’s hand. It definitely helps out.”

This story was originally published March 4, 2017 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Joey Gallo’s patience plan pays off with homer, walk."