JOEY GALLO CALLED UP BY RANGERS

While everyone was looking to Trea Turner or Tyler Glasnow as the add in the fantasy game… it’s Joey Gallo who gets the call up and with it becomes immediately intriguing in the fantasy game. Here’s what we know.

Shin-Soo Choo was placed on the DL with a left hamstring strain. He’s expected to miss 3-4 weeks after he missed 40 days with a calf strain.

Drew Stubbs was placed on the DL with a sprained left toe.

The club announced that Josh Hamilton will need knee surgery that will sideline him for the remainder of the season.

Jared Hoying was promoted from the minors.

Gallo was called up from the minors.

It appears that Ryan Rua and Hoying will share time in left field. Nomar Mazara will likely stick in right field on a daily bases with Choo down. That likely leaves center field to Ian Desmond. Prince Fielder is filling the DL role, Mitch Moreland first base and Adrian Beltre third base.

So where does Gallo play? Well…

Good question, but before we even get to that, how long will Gallo be up? From the Dallas Morning News. “Gallo could have a brief stay. They likely will promote middle infielder Jurickson Profar from Round Rock to fill in when second baseman Rougned Odor begins a suspension for his role in a brawl with Toronto. The Rangers cannot fill Odor’s spot during the suspension.”

So as you can see, there really is no path to full-time playing time for Gallo, barring another injury or trade, and it’s possible his stay could be short once the Odor suspension is levied (which should come Friday – see this Big 3 video).

As for Gallo’s skills…

Gallo, the top prospect for the Rangers, was recently activated off the DL. He had missed three weeks with a groin strain and had been back for less than a week when the call to promote him came.

Gallo can play first, third and the outfield. He’s yet to play the outfield in the minors this season, and he’s only played first base once, but his defense should be passable at any of the spots if his bat impresses. Obviously though he’s not playing third, and it appears first is unlikely, so it’s to the outfield or bust where Joey has appeared in just 39 games in his profession career.

Gallo has as much raw power as any man in baseball, anywhere in the world. He can blast it as well as anyone. He’s averaged 54 homers per 162 games in the minors, an insane mark. Gallo also hit six homers in 108 at-bats last season as a rookie with the Rangers.

The rest of his game… it’s a bit rough.

Gallo has hit a mere .258 in the minors.
Gallo hit .204 last season with the Rangers.

As a minor leaguer Gallo has struck out 592 times in 407 games. That’s a 162 game pace of 236 strikeouts. Gallo has struck out 57 times in 37 big league games with the Rangers. That’s a pace for 250 strikeouts over 162 games. The big league record for strikeouts in a season is 223 whiffs (Mark Reynolds in 2009).

Gallo is a massive swing and miss guy. Folks, he’s struck out 57 times in 109 at-bats with the Rangers, more than 50 percent of his at-bats. That’s as pathetic a mark as anyone could possibly dream up. It’s HIDEOUS. You’re going to read a lot about how things have changed and that he has a 22.6 percent K-rate this year in Triple-A, but understand that you’re talking about 24 games out of the 444 games he’s played as a professional. It’s encouraging data, but less than a month of games doesn’t wipe out the overarching concerns.

If Gallo played daily the rest of the season he could hit 25 homers. Heck, he could hit 30. But he could also be the second coming of Chris Carter with the downside being the utter failure he threw at us last season. With the uncertainty about his playing time in the short run, be cautious with adding the massive power bat of this lefty.

By the way, Hoying is an intriguing AL-only add. He’s a lefty who should be on the right side of the platoon in left, and he’ was batting .319 with seven homers, 32 RBI and a .959 OPS in the minors. He was chosen over the previously demoted Delino DeShields Jr. "No. 1, the way Jared has played, it's an easy call," GM Josh Daniels said. "No. 2, replacing Choo, a little left-handed power with Jared made sense. Third, we sent Delino down to work on some things and we want to let him continue to work on things."

 

DFS DIAMONDS

*The following list of players are guys that Ray recommends as daily plays.

CATCHER: Welington Castillo has gone 6-for-17 against Francisco Liriano with two homers and five RBI. He has a hit in four of five games with two doubles. He’s also batting .317 with a .951 OPS in 16 road games.

FIRST BASE: Hanley Ramirez is batting .393 with two homers and a 1.286 OPS against Jorge De La Rosa over 34 plate appearances. Hanley has a hit in 9 of 10 games during which time he’s batting .320.     

SECOND BASE: Johnny Giavotella has six games of 10 hits in his last 10 outings, all of which he’s produced at least one hit. He’s also driven in eight runs in that time.

THIRD BASE: Matt Duffy has four hits in 11 at-bats against Andrew Cashner (.364) and he’s produced a hit in 4-straight games. Cashner has allowed righties to hit .343 with a .420 OBP and .506 SLG.  

SHORTSTOP: Asdrubal Cabrera faces Stephen Strasburg having produced a hit in 6-straight games. He’s also driven in five runners in that time and is batting .300 on the road with a .357 OBP.

OUTFIELD: Ryan Raburn has a .286/.382/.679 slash line with three homers in 28 at-bats against lefties this season. He faces David Price who he has a homer and .916 OPS against over 34 plate appearances.  

OUTFIELD: Austin Jackson has two runs, three RBI, a double and a triple over his last three games. He’s also hit .438 with a homer and a 1.408 OPS versus Josh Tomlin over 17 plate appearances.

OUTFIELD: Nelson Cruz takes on Kendall Graveman. Not only has Cruz gone 4-for-7 in limited work in the matchup, but he gets to face a guy who has been bombed by righties this season to the tune of a .320/.350/.563 slash line (he’s also allowed six homers).   

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).