It wasn’t the greatest of starts to his Yankee tenure, but Joey Gallo is finally looking like the prolific power bat the Bombers hoped to acquire when they traded for him before the deadline.
Three more hits and two more home runs in Friday night’s 8-0 blowout win over Cleveland has raised Gallo’s OPS to 1.171 over his last 13 games, and in his last 11 starts, Gallo has slugged seven home runs.
Gallo credits mechanical adjustments to his drastic offensive turnaround, but also the ups and downs of a long baseball season, which no team knows better than the 2021 Yankees.
“I knew at some point I’d get going and things would start going my way,” Gallo said. “That’s just how baseball works. But credit to our hitting coaches. They’ve definitely helped me a lot.”
Listen to New York sports talk now on Audacy and shop the latest Yankees team gear
Yankees hitting coach Marcus Thames and the rest of the staff reeled through previous footage of Gallo’s swing to try and identify what could help get him back to his light-tower power, and they appear to have found a tweak that has paid off.
“Just working with our guys here, our hitting coaches here, kind of looking at video over the years when I was taking my best swing,” Gallo said. “I was a little more opened up with my stance, kind of getting into that back leg a little more as well and getting into my legs. Watching video from a few weeks ago, I was kind of flailing a little bit. I didn’t have much strength and wasn’t into my legs as much.
“Being a bigger guy, you can create a lot of power and torque from being in your legs, so that’s kind of what we did.”
The change can definitely be seen in Gallo’s stance, which he has clearly opened up more of late. Take a look at this strikeout by Gallo back on Aug. 23 against the Braves, then compare it to his stance before he blasted his second home run of the night on Friday.
Gallo has opened his stance more in the box, and the home runs have followed. He is batting .333 with a 1.000 slugging percentage over his last 10 games, just when the Yankees could desperately use a hot streak to secure a playoff spot.
“This game is so much about being on time, but when you get your pitch or a mistake pitch, you gotta take advantage of it,” Aaron Boone said. “Pitchers are too good…so when you get an opportunity, you have to stick it, and that’s what he’s been doing lately.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch