Inside Rangers' Decision to Move Gallo Down in Lineup

Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo has struggled through the first month of the season. After being moved down in the lineup, the coaching staff explained some of the issues.

Chris Halicke | May 2, 2021

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers currently sit at the bottom of the American League West division, but we've seen several positives from their young lineup. It's a small sample size of just one month, but Nick Solak, Nate Lowe and Willie Calhoun are all emerging as potential fixtures in the lineup.

However, the hitter capable of doing the most damage has been silenced for the better part of the first month of the season.

Through 27 games, slugger Joey Gallo is slashing just .218/.404/.299 (.702 OPS) with only two home runs and three extra-base hits. That .404 on base percentage is elevated due to Gallo's impressive 23-game on-base streak to begin the season. He currently leads the American League with 24 walks, a mark that is second to only Dodgers first baseman Max Muncy in Major League Baseball (28).

However, Gallo is also tied for the MLB lead with 43 strikeouts, and is on pace to set a new career-high in the "K" column. After a month of letting Gallo exclusively hit third in the lineup, Rangers manager Chris Woodward decided to make a change.

For Sunday's series finale against the Boston Red Sox, Joey Gallo will shift back down to the clean up spot, which almost feels a bit like a relegation.

"Joey and I talked about it. We mutually agreed that putting him down a notch might help him a little bit," Woodward said. "Having Lowe in front of him might help him see some pitches that they may throw him. Joey's not 100 percent right now. He obviously wants to do better to help us.

"I don't plan on making that permanent. Hopefully it gets him going a little bit."

That talk of not being 100 percent isn't related to Gallo's health. Sure, every regular start in the big leagues deals with minor bumps and bruises. But that isn't the issue.

"His swing isn't ... exactly how he'd like it, I guess," Woodward explained. "He's working through some things mechanically. He just wants to get going. I think that's kind of the best way to take the heat off him."

A quick look at Gallo's profile on Baseball Savant might make you cringe. He ranks in the lowest percentile in whiff percentage, the third percentile in xBA (expected batting average), and the fourth percentile in strikeout percentage and xSLG (expected slugging percentage).

However, he is in the highest percentile in walk percentage and in the 84th percentile in chase rate. That means Gallo isn't chasing pitches and missing them. He's missing pitches in the zone. That's a problem. Gallo's zone contact percentage is currently 62.6 percent, which is four percent lower than his career average and his lowest mark since 2016.

"It's hard to pinpoint what it is," said Rangers hitting coach Luis Ortiz. "The thing is he's thrown a lot of bad pitches. Then he's thrown one pitch in there and you want to do something with it. Sometimes you try to do a little bit too much. But it's about to happen."

The Rangers believe Gallo will come around and begin producing at the level they expect. Maybe a move back down to a familiar place in the lineup will help.

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Published May 2, 2021

CHRIS HALICKE