Finally! Rangers' Joey Gallo to participate in first Home Run Derby
The All-Star right fielder crushed two more home runs Wednesday and was just waiting for the final word that he would slug it out Monday in the thin air at Coors Field.
Either all lines of communication at MLB headquarters in New York were out, or the commissioner’s office was worried how to stage a fair fight.
Those are the only two plausible explanations for MLB waiting three days to reveal that Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo would participate in the Home Run Derby on Monday night.
It turns out there was a third explanation: Gallo was sitting on a secret.
It’s out now. He’s in the derby.
“I kind of knew Sunday,” Gallo said. “They told me don’t release anything. That’s why I didn’t say anything. It took a while for them to announce it, so I was starting to think maybe the found somebody else. I really didn’t know 100% until today.”
The derby is the main event of the All-Star festivities, arguably even more of a draw than the All-Star Game itself. The combination of Gallo and the Mile High thin air at Coors Field will make his round(s) must-see TV.
“And we’re in Denver,” Gallo said. “It should be fun.”
Gallo said he wanted to be in a derby while playing with the Rangers. He’s one of the biggest names in the rumor mill ahead of the trade deadline, and that factored into his decision to compete.
He will join, among others, Shohei Ohtani and 2019 champion Pete Alonso. Third-base coach Tony Beasley will be Gallo’s pitcher.
It doesn’t seem to matter who’s pitching lately. Gallo hit two solo homers and took a bases-loaded walk to account for all three Rangers runs in a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
The Rangers were done in by a three-run seventh inning in which reliever Joely Rodriguez allowed all three runners he inherited from All-Star pitcher Kyle Gibson to score.
The story, though, was about Gallo, who also threw out a runner at third base.
He pulled his name from consideration in 2019 derby during his first All-Star appearance. He was coming off an oblique strain and didn’t want to do anything to risk aggravating it. But he played in the game, and hit a key homer late in the American League’s victory in his only at-bat.
The only thing hurting this season are the baseballs he’s been hitting.
These aren’t just wall-scrapers Gallo is hitting. A few have been, though to the opposite field. His second homer Wednesday traveled an estimated 462 feet, the second-longest homer in Globe Life Field history (Sean Murphy, Oakland, 464 feet).
It gave Gallo 10 homers in 10 games. He’s the first Rangers player to ever do that.
“There’s so many great Rangers that have played before me, so that’s pretty cool,” Gallo said.
His 23 homers before the All-Star break are the most since Josh Hamilton hit a club-record 27 in 2012.
Hamilton, of course, is the standard-bearer for Rangers in the Home Run Derby. He swatted a record 28 home runs in his first round at the 2008 derby at Yankee Stadium, where he became a star.
The rules are vastly different now, with rounds timed instead of hitters getting to swing away until they reach 10 outs. That also helps cut down on the wear and tear on participants, not to mention the marathon telecasts.
Rangers manager Chris Woodward and general manager Chris Young have no issues with Gallo participating. If he returns from the All-Star break worn out, Woodward will give him an extra day off.
That might have happened anyway for Gallo and for fellow All-Stars Adolis Garcia and Gibson. All-Stars jump through a lot of hoops in two days.
Gallo is going to jump through the biggest one of all.
He’s in the Home Run Derby.
“He’s excited about it,” Woodward said. “The way he’s swing the bat right now, there’s a lot of hype around him. To see him in that is going to be pretty cool for us.”