The New York Yankees acquired outfielder Joey Gallo before the trade deadline, in a transaction with the Texas Rangers. The slugger, famous for his tape measure home runs and his penchant for strikeouts, struggled in his first 2+ months in pinstripes, with a .160/.303/.404 line, 13 homers, a .707 OPS and 88 punchouts in 188 at-bats.
He is, however, a productive hitter overall when one considers his power and patience to draw walks. Even with all the strikeouts, he has managed to be a well-above average performer over the course of his career, not to mention a sneaky-good athlete and a terrific defender in the outfield.
But it’s not a secret that his stint with the Yankees, to this point, hasn’t gone well. The fan base has been fairly critical of his performance, and one former MLB star in particular bashed him in a recent media appearance.
Harsh words for the Yankees’ slugger
“That was the worst f–king lineup they could have put on the field,†Rose said to USA Today, per NESN (link to the New York Post article here). “Their 6, 7, 8, 9 hitters were all out-men. They had to have (Aaron) Judge and (Giancarlo) Stanton do something. If they didn’t, all of the pressure was on Joey Gallo. You saw how that worked out.
“How does someone who didn’t play every day strike out 213 times? Ray Charles wouldn’t strike out that much. I just can’t imagine striking out 213 times without killing myself,†he stated.
Despite the disrespectful tirade, it should be noted that Gallo is under contract with the Yankees for at least one more season, and he is capable of big things both at the plate and on the field. At the moment of the trade, in late July, he was hitting .223/.379/.490 with a .869 OPS with the Rangers.
As a fun fact, Gallo’s career .822 OPS is significantly better than Rose’s .784 mark.