To put it plainly, things aren’t going well for the Yankees right now. They’re not only 60-64, but they’re firmly in last place in the AL East. After getting swept this weekend, the Red Sox are now six games ahead of them in the standings. Did outfielder Joey Gallo cast a spell over his former club on his way out of town last summer?
The evidence says yes. Well, not really, but we have to point blame somewhere, and what better place than a former player who’s no longer in the Bronx?
Monday is a breather for New York, and they desperately need it. Before welcoming the Washington Nationals to town, the Yankees are mired in an eight-game losing streak. It’s put them 17 games out of first place in the division and nine games back of the final AL Wild Card spot. For some perspective, the Mets — who aggressively sold at the trade deadline — are seven games out of the final NL Wild Card spot.
Woof.
Is Gallo the missing piece to the Yankees being a World Series contender? The stats don’t lie, folks:
Yankees record
With Joey Gallo:
110-57 | .659 Winning%Since they traded Joey Gallo away:
89-92 | .492 Winning%He was the glue for this ball club pic.twitter.com/dNijsgkaJz
— Addison (@YankeeWRLD) August 20, 2023
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(After Sunday’s loss, they’re now 89-93.)
But it’s not like Gallo actually performed well during his time in pinstripes. There was a reason New York waved the white flag on him last July, ya know. In 140 total games (501 plate appearances) with the Bombers, Gallo slashed .159/.291/.368 with 25 home runs and 46 RBI.
He was more or less a black hole in manager Aaron Boone’s lineup. But hey, at least the Yankees were winning while that was happening, right?
This is obviously just a coincidence unless the Baseball Gods are playing a cruel joke on Yankee fans. But still, it’s hard to look at this — especially when it seems like the sky is falling in the Bronx. It’s hard to look at anything Yankees-related right now, so it’s better to just look away for the time being.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on X: @mmusico8.
