Joey Gallo - our lefty power bat

[Natsinpwc]

Do you mean Josh Bell as Smith is on a minor league deal with Tampa

I’m sure the Marlins would go for that. 

[rileyn]

Rizzo really flushed the mouse with the Gallo signing.  Part of me hopes he just fails so quickly that we cut him loose and move on by Memorial Day.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Do you mean Josh Bell as Smith is on a minor league deal with Tampa

I think he truly means trading for Smith. Bell would take more in terms of talent to trade for than Smith, unless the Fish want to dump a salary (and it's unlikely we'd pick up the cost).

[imref]

Ruiz or Adams at DH with Millas as a catcher would arguably have been a better way to go. But fwiw, gallo wasn’t terrible last year and this isn’t a huge risk.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

TTO hitters can have ugly stretches when it's disproportionately Ks. On the bright side, his D saved some wild throws from Lipscomb and others yesterday, and he didn't press in the 9th and didn't turn down the walk when the pitcher lost the strike zone.

[aspenbubba]

I think he truly means trading for Smith. Bell would take more in terms of talent to trade for than Smith, unless the Fish want to dump a salary (and it's unlikely we'd pick up the cost).

Smith was signed by Tampa Bay Rays yesterday to a minor league contract. I’m not sure where the confusion originated with the original post and subsequent follow up.

[imref]

i think welch got the florida teams confused.

[aspenbubba]

i think welch got the florida teams confused.

That’s what I thought. Or confused Bell and Smith.

[imref]

That’s what I thought. Or confused Bell and Smith.

I think what he was trying to say is that we should draft Wesson out of the university of Florida, or Howell out of Miami?

[welch]

Do you mean Josh Bell as Smith is on a minor league deal with Tampa

Ah...mixed up the Florida teams when I read quickly. Trade Gallo to Tampa, then. Smith will field 1B, will hit .250 or .260, and will hit a few homers. Gallo? Sure, MASN showed a chart trying to claim that Gallo hits a homer as often as Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron did...neglecting that Gallo was a home run hitter for, maybe, three years, while The Babe and Hammerin' Hank each did it for about twenty seasons.

[aspenbubba]

Ruiz or Adams at DH with Millas as a catcher would arguably have been a better way to go. But fwiw, gallo wasn’t terrible last year and this isn’t a huge risk.

And let Joey play 1B as I have been saying since halfway thru last season.

[IanRubbish]

Rizzo really flushed the mouse with the Gallo signing.  Part of me hopes he just fails so quickly that we cut him loose and move on by Memorial Day.

That would require Rizzo admitting to a mistake, which he hates to do.  He’s only still GM due to politicking and being a PR front for the owners.  Mini Me takes a $5 million signing seriously on top of that.  Gallo will likely be with the team at least to the trade deadline, even though he won’t fetch anything in return. 

[Natsinpwc]

Remember Nelson Cruz. He was bad and basically played all season.

[imref]

So far we’ve got defense and walks. Just need the power to come around.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

And, sure, Washington had signed Gallo to a one-year, $5 million contract in the offseason in hopes that he could. But the slugger had hit .103 in spring training without a homer. He openly noted that he was in danger of not getting another MLB contract if this season went south.

...

Gallo seized on Keller’s mistake in the middle of the strike zone, bouncing it into an empty row of seats in a section unaccustomed to seeing balls coming its way. Now, fans in that area might have to start preparing for that possibility when the 6-foot-5, 250-pound slugger steps to the plate. Gallo added a double and finished 3 for 4; he attributed his success to a simplified swing. He noted that he was trying to lift the ball too much during his first few games, even though his swing already has a natural uppercut.

“Thank God that I did something good,” Gallo joked when asked about his mind-set after the homer. “Sometimes it takes one swing or one game to just kind of feel something and get that confidence going, and then things just go from there.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/04/03/nationals-pirates-joey-gallo-home-run/

I like the guy's honesty. He seems level-headed.

[welch]

That was a pretty homer. Hondo-power.

[nobleisthyname]

Might have been too quick to dismiss him. OPS up to .792 after last night.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Might have been too quick to dismiss him. OPS up to .792 after last night.

But the Average!!!!  The Ks!!! 

He's a career .789 OPS, who at his peak from 2017 -2021 had an .870, .810, .987, and (after an off 2020) and .809. He's still a touch below that, but if he ups his walks a bit, he could get into the .209 / .333 / .537 of 2017 range again (from the way too early .211 / .318 / .474). .199 / .351 / .458 is realistic (2021).

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2024-fangraphs-war-update/

FG has adopted Statcasts fielding metrics in it WAR calculation, replacing UZR and a few other measures. Two of the most impacted players are Trea Turner and Joey Gallo. Turner's WAR over the period from 2016-2023 increases 1.7, 5th most among all players. Joey Gallo, brought in in part for his defense, drops second most among all players for the same period (-2.4). #1 is Mookie, who drops 3.0, so Gallo has decent company. Gallo's only significantly positive defensive season was 2021 (3.3 runs). In contrast, the past 2 years he's been around -5 each year.

[imref]

Gallo's .922 OPS is 2nd on the team (behind Abrams at .924).

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Gallo's .922 OPS is 2nd on the team (behind Abrams at .924) is pretty good.

[IanRubbish]

#1 in MLB in K rate at 43.6% of PAs.

He's become yet another case of this org. playing the contract, not the best player.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

#1 in MLB in K rate at 43.6% of PAs.

He's become yet another case of this org. playing the contract, not the best player.

how would you unpack the dh, 1b cluster? Give Yepez a shot? Dh Adams on his day off?

[IanRubbish]

how would you unpack the dh, 1b cluster? Give Yepez a shot? Dh Adams on his day off?

Yes, no one's earned either role, going back to last year's failed experiment with Dom Smith.  Call up Yepez, Garrett, Wood, and one of Kieboom/Lipscomb/Baker, and shuffle some of the OFers to 1B and DH, and make Joey M. earn his spot as well   Granted none are all-stars, but with the team dead last in the NL in scoring, it wouldn't take much to get an improvement.

Right now, Nasim Nunez, Senzel, and Gallo are just burning up roster spots they haven't come close to earning.

[aspenbubba]

Yes, no one's earned either role, going back to last year's failed experiment with Dom Smith.  Call up Yepez, Garrett, Wood, and one of Kieboom/Lipscomb/Baker, and shuffle some of the OFers to 1B and DH, and make Joey M. earn his spot as well   Granted none are all-stars, but with the team dead last in the NL in scoring, it wouldn't take much to get an improvement.

Right now, Nasim Nunez, Senzel, and Gallo are just burning up roster spots they haven't come close to earning.

You got it. Not only are they burning up roster spots but are breathing valuable oxygen in the locker room that rightfully belongs to others more deserving.