Joey Gallo announces surprising position change after White Sox release
Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees from spring training Joey Gallo is seemingly attempting a transformation as his career hits a new low point.After he was released by the White Sox on Sunday, the ex-Yankees bust said on X that he will attempt to convert from an outfielder to a pitcher.
He posted “It’s been fun outfield” along with a compilation of videos of him making throws in the outfield and throwing a bullpen.Gallo, 31, followed it up with a post that said: “Just to be clear, I will be pitching.” A two-time All-Star, Gallo had been struggling through a brutal spring training with Chicago, going 2-for-20 at the plate with 11 strikeouts in nine Cactus League games.
He spent last year with the Nationals, his third team after his disastrous Yankees tenure, and had a slash line of .161/.277/.336 with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs with a .613 OPS.The Nationals declined his $8 million option in November, and he had been in Chicago’s spring training camp on a minor league deal.
Gallo was notably one of the Yankees’ major additions at the 2021 trade deadline, acquiring him from the Rangers, where he had spent the first six-plus seasons of his career.The Yankees subsequently traded him to the Dodgers at the 2022 deadline.
In his yearlong stint in The Bronx, Gallo hit .159/.291/.368 with 25 home runs, 46 RBIs and a .660 OPS in 140 games.He also struck out 194 times in 501 plate appearances.
But Gallo was always a plus-fielder and possessed a strong arm, winning two Gold Glove awards.He’s never pitched professionally, though.
But there is some precedent — Tyler Naquin, who had a brief stint with the Mets in 2022 and spent eight years in MLB as an outfielder — signed with the Guardians as a pitcher this offseason and is undergoing the transformation himself.Anthony Gose has done it somewhat successfully, playing in 372 MLB games as an outfielder...