Joey Gallo

Joseph Nicholas Gallo (born November 19, 1993) is an American professional baseball outfielder and infielder who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, and Washington Nationals.

The Rangers selected Gallo in the first round of the 2012 MLB draft, and he made his MLB debut with the Rangers in 2015. He was selected to the 2019 and 2021 MLB All-Star Games and won the Gold Glove Award in 2020 and 2021. He currently has the most home runs ever (208) for a player with a career batting average under .200 (.194).

Gallo attended Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. As a senior, he was the Nevada Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year and a High School All-American by MaxPreps, ESPNHS and USA Today. He hit a Nevada high school record 67 career home runs in 446 at bats, and during his senior year of high school he had a .509 batting average with 21 home runs and 80 runs batted in (RBIs) in 114 at bats.

Gallo signed a National Letter of Intent to play college baseball for the LSU Tigers.

The Texas Rangers selected Gallo in the first round, with the 39th overall selection, in the 2012 Major League Baseball draft. Rather than enroll at LSU, Gallo signed with the Rangers for a $2.25 million signing bonus.

Gallo started his professional career with the Arizona League Rangers, where he hit .293/.435/.733 with 18 home runs and 52 runs batted in in 150 at bats over 43 games, and was named a Post-Season AZL All Star, a Topps Short-Season/Rookie All Star, and the Topps AZL Player of the Year. The 18 home runs were an Arizona League record. He was named the Arizona League MVP. He was promoted to the Spokane Indians of the Low-A Northwest League, hitting .214/.343/.464 with four home runs and 26 strikeouts in 56 at-bats in 16 games.

Prior to the 2013 season, Gallo was the Rangers 10th-best prospect according to Baseball America. He played the season with the Hickory Crawdads of the Single-A South Atlantic League, leading the league with 38 home runs and 165 strikeouts in 392 at-bats, and was named a Mid-Season All Star and a Post-Season All Star. He became the first teenager since Dick Simpson in 1962 to hit 40 home runs in a minor league season. Between Hickory and the AZL Rangers, he batted a combined .251/.338/.623 with 40 home runs and 172 strikeouts in 411 at-bats. Gallo won the Joe Bauman Home Run Award for hitting the most home runs in minor league baseball for the 2013 season. Over the offseason, he worked out with Troy Tulowitzki and Jason Giambi at the Philippi Sports Institute in Las Vegas.

Gallo started the 2014 season with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the High-A Carolina League, batting .323/.463/.735 and leading the league with 21 home runs as he struck out 64 times in 189 at-bats and was named a Mid-Season All Star and a Post-Season All Star as well as the Carolina League MVP, and was promoted to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Texas League in June where he was named a Post-Season All Star, a Baseball America High Class A All Star, a Baseball America Minor League All Star, and a Topps Class A All Star. In July, he played in the All-Star Futures Game, where he was named the MVP of the game after hitting a go-ahead home run in the sixth inning. Between the two minor league teams he batted .271/.394/.615 with 42 home runs and 179 strikeouts in 439 at bats. Gallo began the 2015 season with Frisco, and was named a Mid-Season Texas South All Star.