The Texas Rangers sit atop the AL West, but they aren't without their issues. They are 7-13 in July and their once-huge lead (10 games) is now down to 3 1/2 games. They have been ravaged by injuries. On the offensive end, Prince Fielder is out for the season while Shin-Soo Choo is also on the DL.
Earlier in the season, the Rangers got boosts from within the organization by promoting both Nomar Mazara and Jurickson Profar and they'll attempt as much this time around, too. Slugger Joey Gallo was recalled from the minors on Tuesday.
Gallo has as much raw power as just about anyone in the game. In two different levels in 2013, he combined for 40 homers. In High-A and Double-A in 2014, he combined for 42 homers (in only 126 games). So far this season in 70 Triple-A games, Gallo has 19 homers.
Gallo got 123 plate appearances in the bigs last season for the Rangers at age 21 and hit just .204/.301/.417. He did hit six homers, so we saw the power, but he also struck out 57 times in 108 at-bats.
Still, it would be foolish to discount his ability to improve. Taking another highly-touted slugging prospect as an example, Anthony Rizzo hit .141/.281/.242 when he was a 21-year-old rookie. This obviously isn't to say Gallo will morph into an MVP candidate, it's only to dispute any notion that because he failed last season he'll fail again.
So maybe Gallo provides a similar boost to the ones Mazara and Profar did initially upon promotion and helps the Rangers continue to right the ship, as they have won three in a row heading into Tuesday.
