By Joey Gallo’s own admission, pull-happy was a little too high last season. His pull percentage was 57.9%, compared to his career average of 48.4% and league average pull-happy of 37.0%. Swinging for the fences with the Minnesota Twins, Gallo, who signed a one-year/$5 million contract with D.C. this winter, will hit 21 home runs a year in 2023, with the majority obviously in center field and right field. . He is a left-handed slugger.
When asked about trying to get everything done last season, Gallo said, “You absolutely know what’s going to happen at any given moment.” “It’s hard to fix. I think a lot of times people think that if you put them in a cage, everything will be solved. And if you do something every day, you develop a kind of rhythm and it becomes a habit. It becomes a habit, but it can be difficult to break the habit.”
Gallo worked behind the scenes, trying to make adjustments. He had a ton of strikeouts, but also walked.
Gallo’s 13.5% BB% in 2023 was 13th best among MLB hitters with at least 300 at-bats (Gallo) There was 332 PA at 111 G). He has a .301 OBP, .262 ISO (18th among hitters leaguewide), posted a .440 SLG and 42.8 K% (142 K in 332 PA), leading all hitters with at least 300 PA.
He pointed out that some of the negative points there were the result of tinkering with his approach too much.
“So, for me, I thought I tried a lot last year and wanted to start using the whole field,” he said. So, for me, that’s where I’m at right now.
“But I definitely knew I was striking out too much. I don’t want to know exactly how much I was until probably until the end of the season, but yeah, it’s something I’m always aware of. Yo.”
This winter, the 30-year-old slugger said he’s focused on hitting all fields again and reducing his Ks.
“I think a lot of my best years were practicing more all over the field and using the middle of the field more,” he explained. “And it seemed like last year I started out like that and fell into bad habits or something and started pulling the ball a little more and started having fun. That’s never a good thing when you’re confined to one side of the field. No. So it’s about getting my bearings back and narrowing it down a little bit and getting it closer to what it probably felt like a few years ago.”
