Joey Gallo Proved He Has Skills On Defense With A Must-See Catch

New York Yankees outfielder Joey Gallo may not be having the smoothest season at the plate, but he sure is finding ways to contribute.

wRC+, which means weighted Runs Created Plus – a model that evaluates offensive performance and adjusts it to external factors like era and ballpark – thinks he has been a below-average performer with the bat, with 89.

A 100 wRC+ is considered average: Gallo has a career 112 wRC+, but this year he has really struggled.

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t do anything else.

In fact, Gallo is a former Gold Glove award winner that is also known for being sneaky athletic and a really solid fielder.

He made an awesome defensive play on Thursday to prove it.

OMGallo!

(MLB x @CapitalOne) pic.twitter.com/1sARFXOOig

— MLB (@MLB) June 23, 2022

Incredible Defensive Instincts

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the play is that he didn’t take his look off the ball at any time, not even to see where the wall was.

That shows he knows the dimensions of Yankee Stadium and had calculated (an approximate distance, of course) where the wall was in relation to the ball.

He ended up hitting the wall, but after he made the important catch.

In a game against a powerhouse like the Houston Astros, every out counts, and Gallo knows this.

He is actually playing much better in right field (+3 Defensive Runs Saved, or DRS) than in left field (-3 DRS), but he has shown in the last couple of years he is capable of covering all three outfield spots.

It may not seem like it, but with his defense and his offensive upside, the Yankees would probably be better off having a bit more patience with Gallo than looking for another star corner outfielder.