Joey Gallo, Twins see optimism in hitting the reset button after a tough season

The first time Joey Gallo ever set foot in Target Field, the brand new pickup truck on display on the right field plaza wound up with a broken windshield.

It's not a bad analogy to the state of Gallo's career, which resumes next year in that same ballpark.

He was once one of the most promising power hitters in the game, a prodigious slugger who has averaged 32 homers in his five full seasons since becoming a regular while also winning a couple of Gold Gloves for his fielding. Yet there's also a huge fracture, not unlike the damage Gallo did with a batting-practice baseball before the Futures Game in Minneapolis in 2014, in his on-field value that has robbed him of that new-car sheen.

Gallo was an All-Star in 2021. He was one of the worst hitters in baseball in 2022.

"When you have a bad year, it's important to look at it and learn from it — not take it to heart too much," the outfielder/first baseman said Tuesday, shortly after signing a one-year contract that will pay him $11 million in 2023. "It was a tough year for me, but I know I'm a great baseball player, and I can move on from it and make the adjustments I need to make."

That last part, the Twins certainly agree with. Though they already have five other left-handed-hitting outfielders on the roster, they jumped at the chance to sign a player with Gallo's high ceiling, especially one who's only 29. Derek Falvey cited Gallo's baserunning, ability to draw walks (an AL-high 111 in 2021, more than any Twin but Harmon Killebrew has ever amassed in a season) and solid defense, not only in a corner outfield spot but at first base and even center field. That's in addition to the 177 career home runs, many of them prodigious.

"We think he fits our team really well. This is a guy who's going to be a big part of this team this year, a big bat for us," said Falvey, the Twins' president of baseball operations. "He offered as much [position] flexibility and upside maybe as anybody we were look at, because we think there's a real chance to tap into what we saw from him only two seasons ago."

As opposed to, say, the strikeout-awash summer he just endured, one that made Gallo the target of an irate and vocal population of fans in New York until the Yankees gave up and traded him in July. He struck out an astonishing, and record-setting, 39.8% of his plate appearances — which, actually, isn't that far from his career rate of 37.3%. He finished the season with three times as many whiffs as hits, only 19 home runs, and a batting average of just .160.

"You have to live with some swing-and-miss [among] guys with his power," Falvey said. "But hopefully we can bring that back and get to more consistent contact. He's going to have strikeouts, we know that. … But we have some ideas as to how to make that better."

Gallo, a pull hitter who hopes new rules limiting infield shifts will benefit him, will become the pet project of hitting coach David Popkins, in other words, starting next month in California.

"I kind of got into some bad habits last year that are tough to get out of midseason," Gallo said. "Getting that reset, getting back on track, being with a new organization with obviously a great hitting coach — the main thing is cleaning up my mechanics a little bit at the plate and having that fresh start."

In some ways, Gallo's profile resembles that of Aaron Judge, his former teammate, another prized slugging prospect in the minors who could also impress with his sheer athletic ability in the field. Their career paths diverged in the majors, though, evidenced no more starkly than their free-agent hauls this month: Judge was lavished with a $360 million contract, while Gallo took just $11 as he attempts to rebuild his value with a season in Minnesota.

Not that he minds his new surroundings.

"I always loved playing here. I've got pretty good memories here, starting with the Futures Game," Gallo said. "I mean, just a great organization I've admired from afar. Great chance to win. I love the fan base, it's always a place I enjoyed playing. And it seemed like they wanted me here, and that's all you can ask for."