The New York Yankees had a notable absence from their lineup on Wednesday as slugger Joey Gallo was excluded from the mix for a much-needed day off. The Yankees' slugger has gotten off to an abysmal start to the season in 2022, and Aaron Boone elected to keep him on the bench Wednesday in hopes of clearing his head. When asked about his disappointing start to the season, Gallo was forthright, admitting he's simply not playing well enough and that he understands the decision to hold him out of action on Wednesday, via Brendan Kuty of NJ.com.

Gallo spoke to reporters before Wednesday's game after finding out he was not in the starting lineup, and answered questions about his slow start to the year.

“I’m not playing well enough right now to be in the starting lineup everyday,” Gallo said via NJ.com. “I understand that. There’s guys playing a lot better than me. So, I think it’s part of it, and you put the best lineup at the time out there and try to win games.”

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Through his first 11 games for the Yankees this year, Gallo is slashing an abhorrent .121/.256/.121 with an unthinkably bad .378 OPS. He has just 4 hits in 33 at-bats, and has struck out 15 times while drawing 6 walks. All of his hits have been singles.

Despite those woes, the Yankees are confident the lefty will get things going as the year progresses, though they are struggling to justify putting him in the starting lineup with production like that. Manager Aaron Boone recently expressed his faith that Gallo would right the ship, and Gallo himself is under the belief that he's been experiencing a bit of bad luck when it comes to batted balls.

At the end of the day, the production simply hasn't been there for Gallo, who will have to work hard to maintain his spot as an everyday starter for the Yankees. He knows he's not been good enough, though, and would be the first to admit it.