Give Joey Gallo a Chance

Gallo, the front office, and majority of the lineup take the 7th Inning stretch line of "for it's 1, 2, 3 strikes your out" to heart.

Stop bringing logic to an emotional argument.

I think most folks aren't hating on Gallo per se. It's more so criticizing the FO for signing Gallo, despite his tools (mainly his left-handedness) not being a good fit for the roster as is currently constructed.

22 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Right now I cannot - let him prove himself - show value and I will slowly convert, but he has stunk enough that I do not have to have a rosy expectation.  I wish there were some Yankee and Dodger fans who could jump in here. 

Many players have performed poorly in those cities and excelled elsewhere.  New York and Los Angeles are totally different monsters when it comes to baseball atmosphere and pressure

Now you did it @Hunter McCall 😁

With all players, give them a chance.

I too do not like the sub–Mendoza Line batting average.

I do like the top-notch defense in the outfield.

HRs are nice, but if I have a guy on 3rd that I need to get home sub .200 BA is tough to see come to the plate.

But the other metrics on Gallo are good.

I think our offense will be good this year if we only regress to the norm when it comes to games lost to injuries, so those 32 DRS start to matter.

As Hunter points out, give the guy a chance.  

I am not all that excited about Gallo but he has consistently produced around 3 WAR with the exception of last year.  He had a wRC+ of 122 while batting 199 in 2021 and produced 4 WAR.  The 199 average is not ideal but I will take it over a guy who hits 260 and produces 2 WAR? 

All I know is that when he was at his best, he was one of those guys you didn't want to pitch against late in the game.  If he can approach that level, I think people on the right field plaza better have their heads on a swivel.

2 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

My point of view, the game’s not played on spreadsheets. Comparing batting average v. OBP………..A base hit is better to move runners than a walk, period……..the defense has to play the ball & the runners are moving. Timing for walk v. a hit is real - bases empty walk is great. I’m not anti-OBP! Same with HR. HR with nobody on base 15 times per year isn’t that exciting when it comes to producing runs & wins……effectiveness is linked to timing.

If a guy has 500 AB’s and hits .275 & his teammate hits .200 in the same 500 AB’s but they have same OBP at .335…….who’s more effective? To me, it’s nuts to think they are comparable. The .275 hitter is getting on 37 more times with a batted ball through the year. Has to be significantly more productive of the two.

If there’s a guy on 3rd & 1 out or a guy on 2nd & 1 out who do you want at the plate?

Walking and calling it effective is agreed to, v. producing an out, but how can it be comparable to a base hit in the same situation?

I guess one could argue that a base hit with nobody on is an empty stat & not being particularly effective? I struggle with the concept that BA isn’t that valid as a contributor to productivity…….if someone’s on base it’s OK to compare Joey Gallo (.199) to Jose Miranda (.261)……..because their OBP may be similar or because Gallo may hit a HR 1 out of 45 times in that situation?

Baseball players have a saying, "A walk is as good as a hit." In no way does a BB hurt the team. That's a fundamental truth of baseball & something that every fan should be able to live with like it or not. I can't imagine holding a batter responsible for taking 4 balls. Chasing pitches out of the zone is how games are lost. A BB results from the pitcher's mistakes & not the batter's mistakes.

I’m fully behind the idea of giving Gallo every opportunity to succeed early in the year. As you’ve emphasized, he will bring a very high K% and a BA that will compete with fan-favorite punchline Miguel Sano – that is well-known. But, Gallo has the added benefit of being an elite defender in the outfield as well as the potential to excel at 1B.

I view Gallo as a more volatile version of Max Kepler. Kepler’s career low wRC+ is 93 (2016) and maxed out at 122 in 2019. Gallo bottomed out at 85 in 2022, but has also achieved 119 in 2017, 122 in 2021, and 144 in 2019. Framing Gallo in this way makes him appear (to me) much more valuable. For the Twins to have a chance at competing with the top teams in the league, they will have to hit on some lottery tickets. If Gallo can reach his potential, then great. If not, the Twins can benefit from his defense until they find a hitter better suited for consistent ABs (Gordon, Larnach, etc.)

I get why the FO took the bait in Gallo. Fine, let’s see how he does.

But my expectations are low and I have very little interest in developing an emotional fan connection with him,  In all likelihood he’s going to perform somewhere between so so and meh and either gone by the trade deadline or by next season.

Geez, this team is going to be so frickin’ boring to watch, particularly if Buxton goes down.  Kepler, Gallo, Farmer, Taylor, Vasquez, Jeffers, even Polanco - they all are good ballplayers, but it’s all “hope they have bounce back year” and/or just plain meh. CC is a fantastic player to watch, but he’ll never be my fan favorite. Gosh, I hope Miranda, Kiriloff, Larnach and Gordon provide some excitement.  Otherwise, I guess I’ll just wait for Lewis, Lee, Julien and Martin…..

Comparing Gallo to Sano might not be fair. As was mentioned, Gallo generally has good at bats, which was more than could be said about Sano. I don't have the stats, but I'll bet that Sano had considerably more three pitch at bats ending in a strikeout than Gallo.

I’m a fan of the move.

If you’re going to be scared of any sort of long-term big money commitment to external free agents (like many fans here seem to be), you have to take fliers like this one if you want to compete.

Especially if you’re going to burn your high draft picks with poor evaluations of guys like Sabato, Rooker, Gordon, Cavaco, etc.

You can’t have it both ways.  If it doesn’t work out, nothing is lost.  He’s not blocking anybody.  He’s not going to hold this team back from winning anything.  If the team stinks with him, they would’ve stunk without him.  But. There’s a slim chance he returns to form and helps the team win some games.

He’s also immediately one of the better defenders on the team with position flexibility.

38 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Chasing balls out of the strike zone are how games are lost, but missing balls and making outs at a 33% clip on balls in the strike zone isn’t a winning formula. My point is specific to Mr. Gallo (even though it wasn’t clear) and the tendency to mask his pathetic (no other words for it at MLB level) .199 career batting average by handfuls of contributors here by citing his career OBP. I completely respect his apparent good eye at the plate and his tendency to make pitchers work! I think working a walk is a respectable way to get on base for anyone!! I just don’t think we should rationalize poor hitting with the view that respectable OBP makes up for not being able to make contact 33% of your AB’s.

Playing in NY & LA being a reason to hit .169 in 2022 is hard to have respect for no matter who makes the statement.

Bottom line is I understand, and am a fan of guys that can walk plus/minus 10% of their plate appearances! I think it’s great that Gallo offsets some of his BA & SO deficiencies by walking regularly. Really! I’ve said repeatedly that his multi position capabilities are a big advantage! He may end up being a savior at 1B if Kirilof can’t play! Look forward to maybe seeing the best outfield D in the league many nights this summer.

I just think he’s a big risk pick up for the $ spent…….seems to neutralize Kepler in right or Gordon’s promise in left……...hope it works out!!!

First, $11 million is pocket change in the MLB world.  There is no risk in terms of money here whatsoever.

Second, you’re focusing on batting average and walks.  He’s got a career OPS around .800 and OPS+ around 110.  Gordon and Kepler’s career numbers aren’t going to hit those marks.  Gallo is so far beyond Gordon in terms of outfield defense, there’s no comparison.  He’s also better than Kepler.  If you want to compare careers, he’s a superior player to both of them even with his historically bad year last year.

I’ll never understand how so many people here say they don’t want Gallo on the team, while simultaneously clamoring to hand the keys over to Nick Gordon who has almost no extended track record of success at any level of professional baseball.  There’s a reason why the FO isn’t handing Gordon the keys to anything other than a bench role.  He’s not that good.

He may change his approach in 2023.  There is nothing saying he can't change and be a better hitter. He has to know this may be his last chance to play and make adjustments.

3 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

I did not like him in Texas either

Well if you don't like an OPS+ of 116, which is what he did in Texas, I can't help you.