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The Next Big Power Prospect
You've probably heard of Kris Bryant by now. Some fantasy pundits are aggressively ranking him among the top 10 third basemen for this coming year. While I like Bryant, I'm not willing to quite commit that level of hype to him yet. However, you're probably so used to hearing about him that you haven't heard nearly as much about any other exciting third base prospect.
Well if you haven't had the pleasure of being introduced to Joey Gallo allow me to do so. What has Mr. Gallo done to warrant attention? Between two levels of the minors last year, he hit .268/.394/.603 with 42 HR, 106 RBI, 99 R, and 7 SB in 441 at-bats. Sure, Bryant's numbers may have been better, but it's hard to ignore those eye popping numbers from Gallo.
Gallo has a few other things in his favor. He was a first round pick in 2012, Texas is renowned for being a hitters paradise, and he has 80 grade power. So why isn't Gallo getting much more attention?
Well, for starters he's blocked by Adrian Beltre. Sure Beltre may be 35, but he shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, his option for 2016 was just picked up by the Rangers on February 23rd. The Rangers also have Prince Fielder signed through 2020, so it's hard to see Gallo finding a place in the lineup.
Some scouts believe that Gallo is eventually destined for the outfield. There does seem to be some room for him there if they move Choo over to left and have Gallo play right, but even that seems iffy. Keep in mind, Gallo hasn't gotten past Double-A ball yet. We're likely looking at 2016 as his earliest arrival.
Gallo isn't doing his arrival time any favors with his strikeout rate. The strikeouts are tolerable if your league doesn't penalize them. Still, it's difficult to expect success from somebody who makes free outs 40 percent of the time. At least he walks at a decent rate.
Gallo is difficult to project. I've heard Mark Reynolds given as a comp, and maybe that's accurate. I've also heard Jose Bautista, and maybe that's accurate. Coincidentally, the best comp to me seems to be to be Kris Bryant with slightly more power and less average. Maybe this is why not that many people are talking about Gallo. It's hard to get excited about a prospect you'll have to stash for two years who may not even stick at his position.
It's only a matter of time before an MLB announcer is saying "It's another galaxy shot from Gallo!". The question is, are you going to be the one to tolerate his flaws until that point arrives?
