Here’s why the Rangers gave Joey Gallo the day off in the finale against the Mariners
A popular tactic MLB mangers like to employ when juggling their roster is to give lineup regulars a day off either the day before or the day after an off day.
The thought is that a player gets two days off while missing only one game. If that game is a day game following a night game, all the better.
The 162-game schedule is a grind, according to, oh, everyone in baseball. But it’s not just a physical grind.
Enter Joey Gallo, who had started 12 straight games for the Texas Rangers, nine of them since their last off day. The stretch started during his run to becoming the American League Player of the Week and ended with him frustrated while in a 1-for-15 slump.
He needed a break to rest a large frame that covers left field and, on occasion, center field, too. But his brain also needed a break.
Gallo finally sat Sunday in the finale of a four-game series against the Seattle Mariners and of an ugly seven-game road trip. It ended on a positive note, as the Rangers swatted three two-run homers in a 14-1 rout for their second straight win and a series split.
Manager Chris Woodward will be watching Gallo state of mind to make sure he stays on track after a productive first month of the 2019 MLB season.
“If you introduce new processes to players, from a mental standpoint, there is going to be a little bit of burnout at times,” Woodward said. “You’ve got to get that recharged with a second wind. I know Joey is always grinding, but when he is so dedicated to something, staying in the strike zone, really hammering from a mental standpoint of being stubborn, it does wear you down.”
Gallo snapped an 0-for-13 slide Saturday night with a his ninth homer of the season and his first in seven games. He is the Rangers’ leader in homers, RBIs (23), slugging percentage (.647) and OPS (1.034).
But he also struck out 12 times, five of them looking, in his six games on the road trip. He and the Rangers felt that he was rung up multiple times on pitches out of the strike zone, and his frustration with the umpires was mounting.
Woodward, though, tried to tell Gallo that the process was still working despite the umpires’ missed calls. For instance, Woodward felt that Gallo had a good game Wednesday in the 6-5 walk-off loss at Oakland even though he struck out looking three times during an 0-for-4 game.
Hitters who have high strikeout totals often get swallowed up by perception even though they might actually have a good eye at the plate, Woodward said. Gallo’s 18 walks also are a team-high, as are his 37 strikeouts.
“Umpires know,” Woodward said. “They have an idea of what they see of this hitter, his reputation in the past, his numbers in the past. Joey, I told him the first time I met him, ‘You’re going to have periods this year where you stick to it, where they expect it to be the old Joey and call strikes on you.’
“Unfortunately they are human. They are going based on reputation, so he has to re-establish his reputation, sometimes there is a little bit of frustration, but he has to stay stubborn and he’ll gain a reputation in a good way, eventually, if he stays with it.”
That’s the hard part, which Gallo admitted after his first slump this season at the end of the Rangers’ first road trip. So far, though, he has been better than ever because he hasn’t given.
His manager will attempt to make sure it stays that way.
“Try to be aware of it and keep things from snowballing in the wrong direction,” Woodward said. “Frustration turns and I see players give in. Among players in the league, I see it. I have the luxury of controlling when they play or don’t play here so hopefully I can monitor that. Stay in tune with that. How they are feeling. Just trying to get ahead.”
Elvis Andrus, Hunter Pence and Logan Forsythe went deep for the Rangers, with Andrus and Pence connecting only two batters apart in a four-run third. Pence collected four RBIs and drove in seven in the final two games of the series.
Lance Lynn allowed only one run in seven innings, striking out night the day after Mike Minor struck out a career-high 13 in a 15-1 Rangers victory.
This story was originally published April 28, 2019 at 3:09 PM.
