The Los Angeles Dodgers are the best team in baseball, leading the MLB with a 94-42 record. Armed with the best offense, pitching, and defense in the league, the Dodgers are the last team in the league to be in need of any help. But after acquiring outfielder Joey Gallo from the New York Yankees in early August, the Dodgers seem to have struck gold once again.
And Joey Gallo may have struck gold too.
The two-time All-Star Gallo is now mostly relegated to backup duties or as a platoon masher of right-handed pitching, but it's helped the slugger regain some semblance of his All-Star form. On the season, Gallo has posted a dismal .104 batting average and .229 SLG% against lefties, warranting a more limited role.
Now, the onus is no longer on him to carry an offense with the presence of Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, among others, and it has helped Gallo perform to a level he's more accustomed to.
“With the lineup we have, it takes a lot of pressure off,” Gallo told J.P. Hoornstra of The Orange County Register. “I’m just kind of there, watching these guys get three hits a game. Maybe I can contribute a little bit but, you know, it’s nice to have such depth and so many talented players up and down the lineup that anybody can take over a game. It’s a lot of weight off your shoulder, I think.”
Joey Gallo has hit four home runs and drove in 13 runs in only 75 plate appearances with the Dodgers, armed with a .320 on-base and .469 slugging percentage, despite struggling immensely against lefties. Nevertheless, the hulking 6'5, 250-pound slugger has embraced the more limited role and manager Dave Roberts knows better than to neglect putting Gallo in a position to succeed.
“I went up to [Gallo] and told him I liked his swing,” Manager Dave Roberts said. “He just kind of reiterated to me that he still doesn’t want to play against left-handed pitching.”
Joey Gallo is yet another addition to the success story list that has powered the Dodgers' decade-long (and counting) window of title contention.
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