The Washington Nationals haven’t been able to enjoy the best of Joey Gallo to this point.
A man of impressive power but many flaws as a player and, particularly, as a hitter, Gallo is hitting .164/.285/.321 with five home runs and a .606 OPS with the Nats this season.
However, the player suffered an injury in Tuesday’s game and has been placed on the injured list.
It means he will be out for at least a few days.
“Trey Lipscomb officially recalled from Triple-A Rochester as Joey Gallo goes on the 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain,” Nationals insider Mark Zuckerman tweeted.
Gallo was hurt after running out a ground ball in the seventh inning of Tuesday’s contest.
Despite calling up Lipscomb, the expectation is that Joey Meneses receives the most playing time while Gallo is gone.
Gallo, universally regarded as a top guy in every clubhouse he has been, has unfortunately failed to live up to expectations in recent years.
Not that batting average is the best stat to measure offensive prowess, but Gallo hasn’t even surpassed .200 points of batting average since 2019.
His strikeouts have become a real problem, as he has fanned 71 times this season, in just 41 games.
He was actually playing quite well as of late, so the injury’s timing is awful: he was slashing .262/.333/.429 since May 25, with two home runs in 48 plate appearances.
The Nats hope his absence doesn’t extend much longer than the minimum 10 days and he can return to offering the kind of numbers he had been getting of late.
