Joey Gallo could be the missing piece of the Yankees offense

At the start of the season, the Yankees’ outfield was supposed to be a force. Clint Frazier had a fantastic breakout campaign in 2020, slashing .267 / .394 / .511 with 8 home runs in 39 games, finally putting that stupendous batting speed to good use. Meanwhile, Aaron Hicks posted a 120 OPS + despite limited power, thanks to his immense walk rate which gave him an OBP of 0.379; a year after Tommy John’s surgery, no one would have been surprised if his power came back in full force. And then, of course, there’s Aaron Judge, whose only concern was whether he could stay on the pitch. There were concerns all around, sure, but there were also huge reasons for optimism.

The judge has, so far, remained healthy, but literally nothing else has gone well. Hicks struggled to the tune of a 74 OPS + before undergoing end-of-season surgery in May to repair a torn tendon sheath on his left wrist. Frazier also struggled, lost the starting position on the pitch to Miguel Andújar, and then hit the injured list with possible dizziness and vision problems. The vertigo was at least excluded recently, but given his history of concussions, it is no exaggeration to wonder if his season, and even his career, could be in jeopardy.

Andújar, for his part, did some good stretches, but the lows put him at 0.667 OPS (83 OPS +) for the year, he’s been a bit of an adventure in left field – and did I mention that he’s on the injured list too? Brett Gardner, who has re-signed to be a fourth outfielder, looks lost at the plate half the time, and the recently acquired 78 OPS + career of Tim Locastro is probably not the answer either.

Enter Joey Gallo. The two-time All-Star outfielder is the biggest commercial bait the last-place Texas Rangers have to throw, and boy, would he look good in the stripes.

This is Gallo’s record for the 2021 season, superimposed on the outline of the dimensions of Yankee Stadium. According to Statcast, he would have four more homers this season if he played in the Bronx and not at Globe Life Field in Arlington, and judging by the graph, there are at least two more hits that would come close. Plus, his left hand swing is tailor-made for Yankee Stadium – he shoots the ball 40 percent of the time, and all but 8 of those hypothetical 28 home runs will go to right field.

The biggest blow against Gallo is that he hits too hard. Frankly I don’t care – when you got the beat for 40 laps and work on foot just over 20 percent of the time (the most in the league), even a 30 percent strikeout rate won’t matter. How can I find out? Because that’s exactly what Gallo is doing this year, and it’s doing .239 / .402 / .522, good for a 153 wRC +. That number is eighth in baseball and better than anyone among the Yankees – even Judge!

But let’s pretend I care about the punchouts. Well, as Josh noted in his Rangers breakdown as a potential business partner, Gallo is walking at a career high pace and hitting at a career low pace. Best of all, he’s chasing just 19.8% of the time, in the league’s 91st percentile. In short, his plate discipline – which has generally been the subject of Gallo criticism – has been an immense strength for him this season.

Better yet, Gallo has absolutely exploded since the first foreign substances memo came out on June 3. Prior to that date, he posted a slash of .208 / .358 / .383 (111 wRC +) with a pull rate of 34.1% and a walk rate of 17.7%, in addition to crushing only nine long bullets and accumulate 1.1 WAR. Since that date ? Gallo cut .301 / .480 / .796 (231 wRC +) while making a homerun once every two games; What’s more, his strikeout percentage fell to 24.8% and his walk rate increased to 25.6% – in other words, in the past month, this strikeout prone hitter walked more than he got!

Defensively, the 2020 Gold Glove winner is one of the best in the league, and his 5 Outs Above Average this season is tied with seven others for sixth place in the standings. He’s played exclusively at right field this season, but he not only has experience on left and center, he’s been successful there – he’s averaged the league in both positions according to OAA, Defensive Runs Saved and UZR / 150. And the Yankees could potentially use it at any position – like I mentioned above, the team has glaring holes in both places.

As Gallo is under contract for the 2022 season, Gallo is going to be expensive – probably more than Brian Cashman is willing to part with, if we’re being honest. It’s also worth noting that there’s no guarantee that Texas will even want to trade it; instead they can lock him up for a long time. If he’s really available, however, then the Yankees need to move all-in. Whether or not it’s enough to propel the Yankees to a playoff spot this year is up for debate, but heading into 2022, arguably there’s no one better on the market in July.