Rangers Joey Gallo Earns Player of the Week Honors

It’s been awhile since Grading on the Curve had a Joey Gallo watch. Well, the 16th ranked prospect on the Grading on the Curve Top 50 jumped back into the headlines this week as he captured the Texas League Player of the Week. 

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Gallo, of course, is the Texas Rangers No. 1 prospect in their system. Last year, he was the most lethal power hitter in the Minor Leagues not named Kris Bryant. Gallo slugged 42 home runs over two levels and earned the Carolina League (High-A) Most Valuable Player Award for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans before being promoted to Double-A Frisco.

Once at Double-A, Gallo showed his weakness. He smashed the identical amount of home runs he did at High-A, but he struck out 51 more times in just 61 more at bats than at Myrtle Beach.

The 21-year old third baseman was sidelined for the first two weeks of the season after getting ankle surgery, but jumped back in right where he left off last season. This past week, Gallo got 9 hits, including three home runs highlighted by a two home run, 6 RBI night last Tuesday. He drove in 8 runs while scoring 5 more.

Gallo’s numbers are now very impressive to start 2015 and he should be heading to the Round Rock Express before too long. The hulking 6 foot 5, 230 pound lefty now has a .330/.440/.680 slash line with 8 home runs and 25 RBI in just 103 at bats.

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Gallo’s power has not been what has held him back. His high strike out rates are a primary cause, but he was also shaky at the hot corner. He has a career .927 fielding percentage, committing 59 errors in 806 total chances at third base. This season they tried him out in left field, where he seemed to be getting more comfortable, having not committed an error in his first 4 games in the outfield of his young professional career.

The Rangers, however, recently promoted Josh Hamilton back to the big league roster, and with Adrian Beltre manning third base, and the combo of Mitch Moreland and Prince Fielder holding it down at first base and designated hitter, there is seemingly no room for Gallo right now at the big league level. Should he keep bashing and putting up the astounding power numbers he has become known for, the Rangers will need to make a move sooner than later.

Joining Gallo as Players of the Week around the Minors this week were:

International League — Matt Hague
Pacific Coast League — Nick Evans (you can see the GotC write up here)
Eastern League — Wynton Bernard
Southern League — Max Kepler
California League — Danry Vasquez
Carolina League — Bradley Zimmer
Florida State League — Michael Conforto
Midwest League — Ruddy Giron
South Atlantic League — Joseph Daris