Texas Rangers: Is Joey Gallo Ready to Take The Next Step?

The Rangers lost veteran third baseman Adrian Beltre for roughly ten days, meaning it’s Joey Gallo’s time to shine. Has the young slugger finally found his swing that the Rangers have been patiently waiting to see?

It’s early in the season, but Joey Gallo has given Texas Rangers fans hope that he is finally ready to take the next step. He crushed a monster home run on Tuesday, and we could being seeing a lot more of those soon.

Gallo has been asked to fill in for Adrian Beltre for at least the next ten days. This isn’t a huge window for Gallo to impress the Rangers, but something is better than nothing. He’s started off the season hitting .286 with two hits in seven at-bats, and of course one of those hits was that ridiculous homer off the Indians.

The 23-year-old needs to show the Rangers he’s an everyday player this year as the team isn’t going to wait forever. The Rangers are in need of Gallo’s power bat, and he could do plenty of damage if he can tap into his full potential.

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As of right now Gallo has seen just 55 games at the Major League level which isn’t a huge sample size. Some experts have been writing him off, but they may have called it too soon. During the off-season Gallo changed his approach, and it looks like it helped.

Instead of focusing on the enormous hype surrounding Gallo, he’d rather focus on the game, and improving his swing. He does look more comfortable at the plate, and his ability to draw walks and work counts has vastly improved. Is Gallo ready to take the next step in 2017?