The struggles moved from one level to the next without a stumble.

Joey Gallo was part of the heralded rookie prospect class to debut or become full-time major leaguers this spring and summer. During his first five weeks with the Texas Rangers, there were clear signals of why Gallo gained instant membership into the group. He flashed incredible power, smashing five home runs in his first 14 games, one of them off Clayton Kershaw, with a .942 OPS.

There were also signs of vulnerability. Gallo was a strikeout machine, punching out 44 percent of the time. Once pitchers realized they didn’t have to throw Gallo a pitch in the zone to get him out, his OPS dropped to .529 with one homer and 27 strikeouts in his final 14 games (52 plate appearances).

Things did not get much better when Gallo was sent down to Triple-A Round Rock—he was initially called up from Double-A Frisco. He had struck out 90 times in 53 games with a .289 OBP by the time September rolled around, and the Rangers recalled him to the majors. It was expected that most of his playing time would come in the form of a pinch hitter, although he started Wednesday and went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in his return to the lineup.

However, none of this means Gallo cannot be a factor in the Rangers’ playoff push, one that currently has them leading the race for the second American League wild-card spot and just two games behind the Houston Astros in the AL West. When a hitter has the kind of prodigious power Gallo has, he has the potential to alter a team’s fate for the better whether off the bench in late innings or as a spot starter.

“All the things he went through, all of that has to happen for a young guy,” manager Jeff Banister told reporters this week. “When they come out the other side and they confront another problem, then they realize they’ve been here before, that they have a tool in their toolbox and reach down and find it.”

Gallo searched for that tool during his entire stint with Round Rock. Realizing his myriad weaknesses—plate coverage, willingness to chase out of the zone and swinging-strike percentage among them—were exposed in the big leagues, the 21-year-old set out to fix them. The problem: There was a huge variety of remedies available to him, and instead of focusing on one, he attempted to use them all.

He tried altering his two-strike approach. He worked on covering both sides of the plate since he was exploited on the outer half in his first major league call-up. He worked on overall swing mechanics. And those were just the things he was willing to admit to reporters when speaking to them Tuesday.

None of it seemed to work. In Gallo’s first 40 at-bats with Round Rock, he hit .175/.250/.400. He eventually improved to .195/.289/.450 in 228 plate appearances at the time the Rangers recalled him as a September addition.

“I tried to eat a whole buffet in one sitting,” Gallo told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. “I went down there and got in a bad way about some things. But I’d rather do that down there than up here.”

The one change we might notice, the one that actually stuck from his time with Round Rock, is a more open batting stance. Gallo used a wider approach in high school and rookie ball, and his Double-A hitting coach, Justin Mashore, suggested the subtle change.

“I tried to make too many adjustments before,” Gallo told Grant. “But I’ve hit this way before, and I’m comfortable. Right now, I’m trying to do what is comfortable.”

The change was not effective at all in Gallo’s second Rangers debut Wednesday. Facing San Diego Padres right-hander Ian Kennedy, Gallo made himself an easy out by swinging and missing five times in his three at-bats. From Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune:

But notice the last sentence of that tweet, because no matter what Gallo does or how he might struggle this month, that possibility always exists. The Rangers know that, and so do opposing pitchers.

His power plays. Always. It does not matter if Gallo is slumping or if he is hot, if he is getting sporadic at-bats or regular playing time. The possibility of him wrecking a pitcher’s mistake is the kind of off-the-bench, game-changing force that all contending teams want at their disposal as they enter the final weeks of the season.

Gallo might strike out a ton. That is almost a given at this point in his career. But he can also run into a homer or five, and if they come in high-leverage situations this late in the year, they could be enough to help push the Rangers back into the playoffs a season after they finished last in their division.

 

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

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