The excitement Joey Gallo brings

[The stache]

The big man made his Major league debut for the Rangers tonight (of course, I could not get him into my fantasy lineup tonight in time). But what a splash.

 

 

3-4 with a single, double, and this 430 foot, upper-deck home run. He drove in 4 runs in all.

 

I smiled when I saw this, because it means there will be even more fun at the ballpark. Josh Hamilton, while he will probably never be the hitter he once was, still hits some bombs. Prince, too. And now Gallo. When Beltre gets back, well, some balls will be flying out of the stadium here in Arlington.

 

He's going to strike out 40% of the time, at least this year, and maybe next. I think he'll cut that down, and he has to, unless he wants to be the next Dave Kingman. But as a baseball fan, it's just fun to see a guy mash like that, isn't it?

 

Scoring is down across the Majors, so I've read. But there are some real thumpers in the Majors right now, too, and when they connect, how can you not love it?! Somewhere, the Babe is smiling right now!

[reillymcshane]

Fascinating player. The power is so real, but the strikeouts will test people's patience. He will be a true incarnation of Branyan, but without the injuries (at least not at this time).

[The stache]

Fascinating player. The power is so real, but the strikeouts will test people's patience. He will be a true incarnation of Branyan, but without the injuries (at least not at this time).

 

Spot on, Reilly. Seeing these guys today makes me appreciate the greats of the past that much more. Look at the kids today. Kris Bryant, as great as he will be, is striking out 36.7% of his at bats this year (and still managing a .280 AVG, and a .396 OBP). Giancarlo Stanton is only 25, and has 169 home runs (!) already. But he's struck out 32.7% of his career at bats--812 whiffs already, including 70 this season. Reggie Jackson, the all-time leader in strike outs (2,597) struck out just 26.3% of his at bats. One would almost have to think that the pitching is a lot better. However, I think it's just a lack of discipline in today's game.

 

Ted Williams hit 521 home runs, and would have hit well over 600 had he not lost over 5 years of his career to the war effort. Yet, he only struck out 709 times in 7,716 career ABs (9.2%). Joe DiMaggio was ridiculous, striking out only 369 times while hitting 361 home runs. He had 6,821 at bats in his career. 5.4% strikeout rate. 5.3% home run rate. And these guys faced some pretty spectacular pitchers. Bob Feller and Early Wynn both managed to strike him out 9 times. 18 Ks in 263 at bats. No pitcher ever struck out Joltin' Joe ten times in his career.

 

Even the great Henry Aaron only struck out 1,383 times (I say only because he had 12,364 at bats, lol). He walked 1,402 times. Aaron never struck out 100 times in a season.

 

Here's something I break out every once in a while. In Major League history, there have only been ten seasons where hitters reached the 40 home run plateau, yet struck out fewer times than they homered. Barry Bonds is the only one to do it in this new century (2004, he had 45 home runs, 41 strikeouts). Along with Bonds, Joe DiMaggio and Mel Ott both did this once. Johnny Mize and Lou Gehrig each accomplished this rarity twice. But the only man to do this three times is Ted Kluszewski. He is, in my opinion, one of the truly underrated greats of the modern era.

 

In 1953, Kluszewski hit 40 home runs, and struck out 34 times.

In 1954, Kluszewski hit 49 home runs, and struck out 35 times.

And in 1955, Kluszewski hit 47 home runs, and struck out 40 times.

 

Only Johnny Mize accomplished this feat when hitting over 50 home runs. He hit 51 bombs, and struck out 42 times, in 1947.

 

I feel we will never come near this level of discipline again, sadly.

[wildcat2237]

And to think the Brewers passed on him 3 times. They took Mitch Haniger, Victor Roache and Clint Coulter ahead of Gallo.

 

Of those 3, only Coulter looks to have any chance of matching Gallo's talent.

[ewitkows]

Victor Roache is having a very nice season. Looks like the wrist is finally 100% healed.

[JohnBriggs12]

Fascinating player. The power is so real, but the strikeouts will test people's patience. He will be a true incarnation of Branyan, but without the injuries (at least not at this time).

 

Branyan's problem was that in addition to the strikeouts, he was streaky and he provided nothing when he was not hitting. Mike Olt (#22), Javy Baez (#4), and Matt Davidson (#72) are all guys with big power/big strikeout numbers that haven't established themselves after being top prospects. I'm sure there are more.

[reillymcshane]

Fascinating player. The power is so real, but the strikeouts will test people's patience. He will be a true incarnation of Branyan, but without the injuries (at least not at this time).

 

Branyan's problem was that in addition to the strikeouts, he was streaky and he provided nothing when he was not hitting. Mike Olt (#22), Javy Baez (#4), and Matt Davidson (#72) are all guys with big power/big strikeout numbers that haven't established themselves after being top prospects. I'm sure there are more.

I have to think Gallo isn't going to hit that well (average wise). I think maybe more in line with a young Mark Reynolds - a guy who'll hit 40+ HR (maybe even 50+), strike out 200+ times, and be lucky to hit .250.

 

To Gallo's credit, he's very young - only 21 years old. He still has time to develop a little more plate discipline. But the guy is what he is - a power bat unlike many others.

[homer]

Gallo, Bryant, Harper - all 23 years or younger, all from Las Vegas.

[BrewersAA]

tyler wagner too ;-)

 

Edit- Oops, hes 24.... THAT must be why you didnt include him ;-)

[Raw Biz]

Gallo, Bryant, Harper - all 23 years or younger, all from Las Vegas.

 

I'm headed out there tonight, I'll do some scouting while I'm there.

[Raw Biz]

And to think the Brewers passed on him 3 times. They took Mitch Haniger, Victor Roache and Clint Coulter ahead of Gallo.

 

Of those 3, only Coulter looks to have any chance of matching Gallo's talent.

 

I wanted Gallo from the get go. I was fine with the Coulter pick but was screaming at the TV when they took Roache (wrist injuries are scary and I didn't want to take the chance) and then was ready to rip my TV off the wall when they took Haniger and Gallo was still there. When Gallo went immediately next, good thing there weren't any puppies around, as they all would have been punted.

[bill hAll Star]

You guys should compare Gallo's minor league numbers and progression to Russell Branyan's.

 

Gallo will love playing in Texas, though, with that porch in RF. Could hit 40+ HR there.

[wildcat2237]

And to think the Brewers passed on him 3 times. They took Mitch Haniger, Victor Roache and Clint Coulter ahead of Gallo.

 

Of those 3, only Coulter looks to have any chance of matching Gallo's talent.

 

I wanted Gallo from the get go. I was fine with the Coulter pick but was screaming at the TV when they took Roache (wrist injuries are scary and I didn't want to take the chance) and then was ready to rip my TV off the wall when they took Haniger and Gallo was still there. When Gallo went immediately next, good thing there weren't any puppies around, as they all would have been punted.

 

Gallo was a signing risk, and thats why he stayed on the board so long.

 

Problem is, I would have picked and signed Gallo, and taken two college senior pitchers with the other two picks. The Brewers instead went for quantity over quality, yet still managed to pick two college players.

 

It was CLEAR that Gallo was more talented than Coulter.

[Raw Biz]

Gallo was a signing risk, and thats why he stayed on the board so long.

 

I really don't remember hearing much of this at the time. Everything I've read about signability concerns is relatively recent. Maybe teams are saying that because they don't want to admit they missed? I remember the majority of concerns were whether he would make enough contact (much like Gatewood last year). Gallo was committed to LSU, sure, but I don't think there was much to be concerned about, he only signed for $2.25 million, about $1 million over slot. And this was before we had bonus pools to worry about, so they could have paid him what they were willing. Unfortunately, the Brewers almost never paid guys more than slot, yet they'll give Braden Looper, Jeff Suppan, etc. tens of millions.

[brewcrewdue80]

Victor Roache is having a very nice season. Looks like the wrist is finally 100% healed.

 

Yeah his numbers are nice, til you get to the Ks. 81ks in 227PAs. 35.7% This is his 2nd go around at A+ level. Last year he had 138k in 481PAs. 28.7% rate. That's scary. He's old for the level he's in, and he's striking out more his 2nd go round than the first. There's just WAY to much BABIP luck likely happening. He's not quite halfway in PAs as his total last season, but 13.5PAs away. total power goes 10 vs 17doubles, 2 vs 2 triples and 9 vs 18HRs. Considering 46pts higher in Avg. that's not really showing me any kind of improvement in power numbers from the year before. And with the K% even higher, he would actually look to have regressed more than progressed. He has 2.5 more doubles pace and 1 triple more vs the same pace he did last season. So I'm fully in his BABIP must be 100pts higher than last based on what's hes done thusfar vs last year's total. I have very little hopes he'll ever make it to the MLs. Sadly.

[logan82]

Roache is 0.4 years older than average for A+. I am more concerned with his BA/OBP split than K%.

[brewcrewdue80]

Roache is 0.4 years older than average for A+. I am more concerned with his BA/OBP split than K%.

 

Then you're concerned like me as his BBs aren't any higher compared to last season either. Literally it's almost identical numbers save for 7 more balls hit falling for base hits. He's looking like a .215/.280/.400 hitter as ceiling at the ML level. He's still gotta get to AA, AAA where the pitching will even be better than A+ so I may be overestimating his triple slash lines.

 

This isn't even considering this thread is to talk about Gallo and him batting something like .230 because of a 40% Ks. Roache is nowhere near Gallo's level except at Ks. Probably a .165 hitter at the ML level honestly. Worse than Maldonado with the bat.

[logan82]

Not really. His spilt is pretty good. He has good power, and he us about average age for his level.

[JohnBriggs12]

Gallo has fanned 13 times in 27 plate appearances. That's a pace that would shatter every strikeout record by a huge margin. Despite that he's got an OPS of .954. But unless you think his BAbip of .556 is sustainable or that he'll homer once every 5.5 times he puts a ball in play, its not looking good for sustained success unless he can lower that K rate to one in three PA at least.

[Raw Biz]

Gallo has fanned 13 times in 27 plate appearances. That's a pace that would shatter every strikeout record by a huge margin. Despite that he's got an OPS of .954. But unless you think his BAbip of .556 is sustainable or that he'll homer once every 5.5 times he puts a ball in play, its not looking good for sustained success unless he can lower that K rate to one in three PA at least.

 

The kid is 21 and jumped from AA to The Show^TM. His K rate has hovered between 26% and 38% in his career, with a walk rate between 10% and 20%. He's obviously going to strike out a lot but the kid has talent and will very likely be putting up monster HR numbers while walking a lot as well.