Could Joey Gallo Bring Hardware Back to Minnesota?

[Ted Schwerzler]

It's pretty difficult to employ a player that wins the Most Valuable Player award. It might be more difficult to find one of the few aces capable of winning a Cy Young Award. The Minnesota Twins haven’t had a Rookie of the Year award winner in quite some time, but they could find a Comeback Player of the Year in 2023.

 

Image courtesy of Rhona Wise-USA TODAY Sports

Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau both won Most Valuable Player awards while wearing a Twins jersey. Johan Santana picked up a pair of Cy Young awards and should have grabbed a third. It hasn’t been since Marty Cordova that the franchise has had a Rookie of the Year award winner, but maybe Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, or Edouard Julien could change those fortunes. This season though, Joey Gallo could pull a Francisco Liriano and win the Comeback Player of the Year.

Back in 2006, Liriano was among the best pitchers in baseball. He posted a 2.16 ERA across 121 innings and generated an All-Star nod and nearly a Rookie of the Year award. He then blew out his arm and missed the entire 2007 season, returning for just 76 innings during the 2008 season. Liriano was clearly not himself in 2009 and his 136 2/3 innings that year equated to a gaudy 5.80 ERA.

That’s when the comeback happened. In 2010, the Twins starter worked 31 games spanning nearly 200 innings. He posted a solid 3.62 ERA. He wasn’t untouchable, but the 2.66 FIP shares a story of an arm that was even better than his results indicated, and Minnesota looked at a glimpse of what they saw from their rookie phenom. When the dust settled, a yearly award was presented.

For the first time since, Minnesota could be in line for another similar outcome.

After a terrible year split between New York and Los Angeles, Joey Gallo signed with the Twins on an $11 million deal. Yes, a one-year deal hardly gives him longevity, but this is a guy who has destroyed vehicles with home run balls at Target Field. As much as he should have seen success through the short porch at Yankees Stadium, things simply didn’t work out.

A lack of a shift might help Gallo to some extent, but given his ability to lift the baseball, there is plenty of reason for him to succeed at Target Field regardless of the positioning from defenders. Gallo is going to bring a Gold Glove caliber defensive ability, and that holds true both in the outfield and at first base. Given the uncertainty of Alex Kirilloff, the versatility from the former Rangers All-Star is massively valuable.

Unfortunately, the Twins have already seen Gallo miss some time due to injury, but he has been a relative pillar of health over the course of his career. Always a hulking power prospect, Gallo has been well above league average offensively in four of the past five full seasons. His batting average is not anything to write home about, but his on-base prowess combined with the slugging potential is always something to behold.

Playing both the outfield and first base for Rocco Baldelli’s Twins thus far, Gallo is off to a hot start. A multi-homer game is already something he has notched under his belt, and seven RBI through the same amount of games put him on pace to blow by his 2022 run producing numbers.

Sometimes players aren’t meant to compete in a larger market, and there is no denying that New York was harsh with the Rangers transplant. He never settled in, and going to the Dodgers from there did no one any favors. Settling into a more agreeable market with Minnesota makes sense, and it appears that Twins hitting coach David Popkins has made his mark early.

Maybe Joey Gallo won't be otherworldly this season, but his numbers could have him noteworthy enough to be recognized league wide. Trey Mancini captured an American League Comeback Player of the Year award after beating cancer, and Justin Verlander did it following Tommy John surgery. Maybe Gallo doesn’t have the same narrative or story, but settling back into who he was as a player would be a great development.

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[mikelink45]

Hahaha

[Doctor Gast]

I really hope he gets "Come back player of the Year". I'm not really concerned about how many HRs or RBIs he may accummulates but more so to get a hit when we really need one & not SO.

[MMMordabito]

" it appears that Twins hitting coach David Popkins has made his mark early "

Twins are 28th in team OPS right now at .664.

Gallo has 20 PAs.

This article is more premature than Virus in National Lampoon's Senior Trip.

[h2oface]

[h2oface]

41 minutes ago, MMMordabito said:

" it appears that Twins hitting coach David Popkins has made his mark early "

Twins are 28th in team OPS right now at .664.

Gallo has 20 PAs.

This article is more premature than Virus in National Lampoon's Senior Trip.

Awwww, come on! Just read the aggregate of players' interviews and comments. This locker room is ultra-talented and they know they are real good! So good, most of them didn't need ST reps because they knew what to do to be ready without them. Back fields, most of the games off, etc. And I read lots about how Gallo was very valuable, regardless of his last year's stats. It's coming. 😇

[JD-TWINS]

Gallo hits 25 plus HR & bats .230, he’ll get 60-70 RBI. I think he’ll get 450 AB’s between LF -RF - 1B. If a guy can play well defensively at 3 positions and provide offense shown above, he’ll have a real shot at Comeback Player of Year…..would be fantastic!

[GNess]

Gallo is a Twin now so I will remain optimistic for a productive season from him until he proves otherwise.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Gallo doesn't need to be in MVP contention to win the comeback player of the year award.  He just needs to go from terrible (which by all accounts he was last year) to pretty good.  That would involve playing good defense and hitting decent amount of homeruns while not batting a buck eighty.  He is certainly capable of that, particularly getting out of NY and back to the land of normal baseball.  He's done it before.   I don't really care if he wins it or not, but I would really love to see him put up a good year and be in the conversation.  It will mean the Twins got good value out of their free agent pickup. 

Will he strike out a lot?  Probably, but he'll also walk a lot, and if tendencies play out he will also hit some balls very very hard.  Strikeouts are really no worse than weak ground balls and there are plenty of players on the team who hit plenty of those.  After all strikeouts lead to less double plays than weak ground balls. 

[Ted Schwerzler]

2 hours ago, MMMordabito said:

" it appears that Twins hitting coach David Popkins has made his mark early "

Twins are 28th in team OPS right now at .664.

Gallo has 20 PAs.

This article is more premature than Virus in National Lampoon's Senior Trip.

Process>Results

There have been more than a few guys with hitting tweaks that seem to be promising.

[Ted Schwerzler]

43 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

Gallo doesn't need to be in MVP contention to win the comeback player of the year award.  He just needs to go from terrible (which by all accounts he was last year) to pretty good.  That would involve playing good defense and hitting decent amount of homeruns while not batting a buck eighty.  He is certainly capable of that, particularly getting out of NY and back to the land of normal baseball.  He's done it before.   I don't really care if he wins it or not, but I would really love to see him put up a good year and be in the conversation.  It will mean the Twins got good value out of their free agent pickup. 

Will he strike out a lot?  Probably, but he'll also walk a lot, and if tendencies play out he will also hit some balls very very hard.  Strikeouts are really no worse than weak ground balls and there are plenty of players on the team who hit plenty of those.  After all strikeouts lead to less double plays than weak ground balls. 

Did we just become best friends?!

[Rod Carews Birthday]

3 hours ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

Did we just become best friends?!

Ha! Ha!  Maybe! Especially if you keep writing articles that I agree with!

I was mostly reacting to the people who have already decided that Gallo will strike out more often than they like so that makes him a bum.  He's a professional ballplayer who has had some pretty strong success and I think that he deserves the benefit of the doubt.  I live in the Chicago suburbs and deal with way too many Cubs and Bears fans.  They have a very similar knee jerk reaction that sometimes changes every day and their team/player is either the greatest the world has ever seen or a complete idiot that should be run out of town.  I lived through a friend of mine (Cubs fan) hoping that Kerry Wood and Mark Pryor would retire the same year so that they could go into the Hall of Fame (yes. . . the Baseball one. . . I know. . . ) together as Cubs teammates.  I'm pretty sure that their combined careers don't merit even one entrance ticket.  I just don't want the Twins' fan base to go down that same road.

[dxpavelka]

You do realize that "who he is as a hitter" is a career .200 hitter who strikes out more than Sano? Right?

 

[wabene]

22 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

You do realize that "who he is as a hitter" is a career .200 hitter who strikes out more than Sano? Right?

 

Gallo had a 5 year stretch where he OPS'd over 800 in 3 of those years and over 900 in another. He is capable of a good year. You do realize that, right? 

[jkcarew]

He’s gotta play, though. Hasn’t even started a rehab assignment, right? He’s looking at 20 PA into May…and then, he’s looking at the possibility of getting platooned/sat against lefties (he’s already been pinch hit for a couple of times). Gotta have some counting stats to win that award...not clear whether he’ll get the PA’s needed.

I’d be happy if he simply got healthy, and can be moderately productive against right-handed pitching, while providing some defensive flexibility.

[wabene]

3 minutes ago, jkcarew said:

He’s gotta play, though. Hasn’t even started a rehab assignment, right? He’s looking at 20 PA into May…and then, he’s looking at the possibility of getting platooned/sat against lefties (he’s already been pinch hit for a couple of times). Gotta have some counting stats to win that award...not clear whether he’ll get the PA’s needed.

I’d be happy if he simply got healthy, and can be moderately productive against right-handed pitching, while providing some defensive flexibility.

Now this is a more reasonable take that I agree with. Your right he was pinch hit for against a lefty. He does have pretty flat platoon splits though. 

[dxpavelka]

7 hours ago, wabene said:

Gallo had a 5 year stretch where he OPS'd over 800 in 3 of those years and over 900 in another. He is capable of a good year. You do realize that, right? 

And yet his career OPS is less than Sano's.  You do realize that, right?

 

[wabene]

15 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

And yet his career OPS is less than Sano's.  You do realize that, right?

 

808 vs 797, so you are right. Those numbers are both pretty good. 

Here are some more stats for ya. Career WAR Sano 7.6, Gallo 14.8.

Joey Gallo was not my pick in free agency.

He has looked tenfold better than Sano did the last time he tried to come back. So since he is here I will try to give him the benefit of the doubt and root for this new Twin. Seems like a good dude and is a good athlete. 

[rv78]

Truely don't believe that Gallo will be a difference maker. My gripe isn't with him per se, he's going to be who he is, a good defensive player who can smack an occasional HR, will hit near the mendoza line, walk a bit and strike out a lot, My gripe is with the FO for not bringing in someone better. Maybe $11M doesn't buy you much anymore but it just seems like a huge over-pay. I'd like to think a combination of Wallner, Gordon, Julien, Farmer, Solano could have provided the flexibility to fill his roster spot until Lewis returned. At this point of the season, and I know it's early, but Taylor is providing more value to the team at $4.5M which is less than half the cost of Gallo's contract. 

Here are some interesting stats from the 2022 season based on 4 players and what they are getting paid now in 2023. 

1 player - 133 Runs, 62 HR's, 131 RBI's, .311 BA, $40M, (cost per each = Runs:0.300, HRs:0.645, RBI's:0.305, BA:128.62)

3 players - 172 Runs, 50 HR's, 154 RBI's, .235 BA, $52.8M, (cost per each = Runs:0.307, HRs:1.056, RBI's:0.343, BA:224.68)

The 1 player is Judge of course. Think his $40M contract is absurd? The 3 players are Kepler, Correa and Gallo. In every catagory Judge is more cost efficient based on offensive production than the $52.8M spent by the Twins on Kepler, Correa and Gallo. Can Judge play 3 positions at once? No, but he is a better bargain statistically than the 3 Twins combined.

 

[Whitey333]

Such a sad state of affairs that strikeouts are considered acceptable.  Yes, I suppose the guy could hit into a double play or hit a weak grounder as you say.  But come on 16;strike outs in one game?  That's 16 at bats that produced absolutely nothing.  The lead the league in strikeouts.  They also do a very poor job of advancing runners.   Coincidence?  Hardly.  Steals and steal atte.pts are way up in baseball but the Twins fall way below everyone in last.  Putting a ball in play at least makes the defense field the ball.  Gallo will continue to be what he is:. A .199 career hitter that strikes out a lot and once in a while hits homers.  Correa, Buxton, and Gallo are making roughly 58 million this year between the three of them.  It's time for them to start showing they are worth it.

[Woof Bronzer]

17 hours ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

Process>Results

Ted, I assume this is satire?

[dxpavelka]

11 hours ago, wabene said:

808 vs 797, so you are right. Those numbers are both pretty good. 

Here are some more stats for ya. Career WAR Sano 7.6, Gallo 14.8.

Joey Gallo was not my pick in free agency.

He has looked tenfold better than Sano did the last time he tried to come back. So since he is here I will try to give him the benefit of the doubt and root for this new Twin. Seems like a good dude and is a good athlete. 

60 at bats for Sano last year is really not a relevant sample size.

[wabene]

1 hour ago, dxpavelka said:

60 at bats for Sano last year is really not a relevant sample size.

Those are all the at bats anyone is willing to give him. 

[dxpavelka]

2 hours ago, wabene said:

Those are all the at bats anyone is willing to give him. 

Or MAYBE you might remember what that he was injured.  Or not.  On you I guess.

[Kummel]

He looked good tonight!

[wabene]

3 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

Or MAYBE you might remember what that he was injured.  Or not.  On you I guess.

Gallo 304/360/870/1230, thanks Joey, lol! 

[wabene]

On 4/18/2023 at 3:37 PM, h2oface said:

There is a lot going on here and it explains a lot 😂

[dxpavelka]

4 hours ago, wabene said:

Gallo 304/360/870/1230, thanks Joey, lol! 

23 at bat 2023 sample size or 2300 career at bat sample size?  Gee beav.............

 

[wabene]

9 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

23 at bat 2023 sample size or 2300 career at bat sample size?  Gee beav.............

 

Look at that. Do you think that is a coincidence? I think not. The defense rests, your honor. 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

2 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

23 at bat 2023 sample size or 2300 career at bat sample size?  Gee beav.............

 

There is 2 things you aren't accounting for,  1 is a more compact swing,  2 is less shift.   He should have an additional hit to his total as well for what was counted as an error in the Kansas City game.   I don't anticipate to hit at this level.  However, if he maintains a .250 batting average he will be a top 30 hitter in the MLB and that is valuable.