Joey Gallo has been the epitome of baseball’s “three true outcomes” as a slugger with a lot of power but also a lot of strikeouts.
Gallo combined for 81 home runs and 403 strikeouts while batting just .208 in 949 at-bats during his two best years with the Texas Rangers. He’s since seen a decline in that power – and average – as teams got a book on him and, quite frankly, starting shifting him more.
With the MLB’s new rules regarding shifts this upcoming season, Gallo was one of the names that immediately came to mind of guys who could benefit from only two defenders being allowed on each side of second base.
Gallo joined WEEI’s Rob Bradford on the Audacy Original Podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” to talk about the new rules and how to make the game more exciting.
“I think they’re on the right track,” Gallo said (3:53 in player above). “I think offense has to go back up again. It’s not as exciting as it used to be… I just don’t think people want to watch pitching and defense. I think they want to see people hitting the ball and scoring runs and running around the bases.
“I think they’re starting to realize that now so hopefully these rule changes kind of implement a little bit more action and entertainment for the casual fan and not just always the diehard baseball fan. I think for baseball you’re trying to attract a bigger audience and it’s hard to do that if it’s not exciting to watch and slow-paced games.”
The new rules are meant to speed up the game and hopefully make it more exciting. Gallo believes that should be the case.
“I think the pitch clock is good because it makes the game speed up a little bit. The shift helps maybe guys getting on base more, more hits, stuff like that,” he said. “How many times you can pick over, maybe there are more stolen bases and stuff like that. So I think we’re on the right track for sure because it’s been kind of on a downhill slide for a little bit so we’ll see how it goes.”
Gallo can relate to new fans trying to get into baseball, admitting that some of his friends even think baseball is boring.
“I remember watching the World Cup and I’m trying to get into soccer and every game was 0-0 and end in a tie and I spent three hours watching the game and no one even freaking scored,” he said. “I’m like is this what it’s like watching a 2-1 baseball game? To me, we got to open up our eyes a little bit and understand the world now.”
While a good pitchers’ duel can be exciting in its own right, Gallo has a point that the more casual fans want to see action. True diehard fans can appreciate a defensive chess match but those are the types of games that may not catch the attention of the new generation.
“If we want to attract the younger demographic, they want to see offense, they want to see homers, they want to see people running the bases, they want to see excitement and they want to get up and cheer. 1-0 games don’t really do that. For me, I think that’s the biggest priority: creating excitement, creating a reason for people to get out of their seat and cheer.”
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