Batting second for your Texas Rangers ... Joey Gallo?

Joey Gallo is 6-foot-5, and within his 255 pounds are layers of muscle that help contribute to his jaw-dropping power and home runs that frequently land 450 feet away.

Now, take that image, one stereotypical of a middle-of-the-lineup hitter, and drop it into the No. 2 hole of the Texas Rangers batting order.

Jeff Banister has done so, and the Rangers manager said on Saturday that Gallo batting second is a very real possibility, maybe even a probability, once the March 29 season opener arrives.

The Rangers were going to give it a look in the first game of a doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals.

There are multiple reasons why it could be advantageous, Banister said, and the power component is only one of them. For it to be successful, Delino DeShields has to be on base regularly.

"The power factor showing up early on behind a guy who has been an on-base, stolen-base threat," Banister said. "Teams like to play the shift on Joey. Does Delino eliminate the shift in certain situations? If he steals second, it’s kind of hard to play a full all-out shift when you have a speedster on second."

The stolen-base threat DeShields poses is a critical part.

Pitchers might be more apt to throw fastballs to keep the speedster from taking second base, and Gallo can handle fastballs. Or pitchers might want to shorten the stride for a quicker delivery and less time for DeShields to run, which also gives Gallo an advantage.

If DeShields successfully swipes second, he would then force opposing managers to make a decision — continue to play an infield shift on Gallo while making it far easier for DeShields to take third, or align the infield more traditionally to keep DeShields at second while running the risk that the grounders Gallo hits into the shift turn into RBI singles.

"If he is standing at second base, it’s really hard to have a complete shift," Banister said.

Elvis Andrus, Adrian Beltre, Nomar Mazara and Shin-Soo Choo would follow Gallo. Robinson Chirinos, Rougned Odor and the left fielder would bat seventh through ninth.

That lineup as a right-left balance in the first five spots, and Choo would boost the bottom third of the hitters with his knack for getting on base ahead of them.

"Choo being one of the highest on-base guys stuck in the middle of it allows that second level of the lineup to be productive," Banister said. "Allows us to balance out the on-base value."

It makes a lot of sense, though the DeShields-Choo combination has been successful in past Rangers seasons. Choo will bat second, Banister said. But there will be times when Gallo, who showed the potential of being a high on-base hitter, falls there in the batting order.

"We're going to take a look at it," Banister said.

This story was originally published March 17, 2018 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Batting second for your Texas Rangers ... Joey Gallo?."