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Joey Gallo's first big league stint is officially over, as the Rangers have sent him back to the AAA level so that he can play on an everyday basis.
Rangers activate Josh Hamilton from DL and option Joey Gallo to Round Rock.
— John Blake (@RangerBlake) June 30, 2015
Gallo was originally brought up to fill the void that was left by Adrian Beltre at third base, and was later moved to the outfield to keep his bat in the lineup. However now that Josh Hamilton's rehab assignment has ended, there simply wasn't room for Gallo.
In 98 at-bats with the Rangers, Gallo showed why he's such an exciting prospect, but also why he still needs time in the minors. He immediately introduced us to his phenomenal power, and even took Clayton Kershaw deep in his 2nd matchup with the reigning MVP and Cy Young winner.
Gallo's blast nearly reached the last row of the bleachers in Dodger Stadium, and was perhaps the clearest example of why Fangraphs rates his future value at 60, and his raw power at 80. Despite his impressive home runs, Gallo looked overmatched most of the time, as 43.9 percent of his at-bats finished with a strikeout.
While that rate is unacceptable, and Gallo will have to figure out a way to cut his strikeouts down, he posted a wRC+ of 97, which is just three percent below the major league average. The tools are clearly there for him to become a great player for Texas, but he just needs to fine tune certain aspects of his hitting approach.
This likely isn't the last time we'll see Gallo with the Rangers in 2015. He'll almost assuredly be a September call-up, and that's assuming that Texas doesn't bring him back up before then.