Joey Gallo was back in the Yankees’ starting lineup on Wednesday, and had a much-needed productive night at the plate, going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks.
It wasn’t enough to prevent the sliding Yankees from their fifth straight loss, but it was enough for the previously-struggling Gallo to find a spark of confidence after being left out of the lineup on Tuesday night.
“I felt good,” Gallo said. “Seeing the ball well. I feel like I have been seeing the ball well the whole time, maybe hits not going my way and whatnot. But trying to put the ball in play a little more.”
Gallo has certainly brought over his plate vision from Texas, but his contact has been a struggle since arriving in New York in July. Since being traded, Gallo has averaged just under a walk per game (30 walks in 36 contests), but has batted just .136 with a .631 OPS in 155 plate appearances, no longer a small sample size.
Gallo’s strikeouts have also been a concern, as he has fanned 62 times in 36 games, including four times on Labor Day, before he was benched on Tuesday to get a fresh start and a day to work with hitting coach Marcus Thames.
“We worked on a few things, looked at video and whatnot,” Gallo said. “It’s good to get a day and kind of regroup and get back out there the next day.”
Gallo’s day off and his work off the field seemed to pay off on Wednesday, and the Yankees could desperately use an offensive spark given their current run scoring output, and Gallo hopes to finally become the potent power threat that the Yanks hoped they were acquiring before the deadline. Perhaps Wednesday was the first step in the right direction.
“I felt good out there,” Gallo said. “I felt like I saw the ball well and had good at-bats, and that’s really all you can do.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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