Yankees hope Joey Gallo’s first homer of the season can get the struggling slugger going

Joey Gallo’s relief was obvious. The slugger had gone 16 games and 57 plate appearances without doing what he was brought to the Yankees to do. Finally, Tuesday night, the left fielder hit a home run.

“It’s the first time anyone’s seen him smile,” Anthony Rizzo said.

Gallo hit one off Orioles starter Jordan Lyles in the fourth inning of the Yankees’ 12-8 win at the Stadium. He drilled it 427 feet to center field and seemingly released a lot of frustration. Gallo relaxed and the small crowd greeted Gallo with chants of his name in his final at-bat of the night.

“It was nice to get a positive reception,” Gallo admitted. “It has been a little while since I’ve gotten a positive reception. ... It was nice to kind of hear them behind me and chanting. Like I said, it feels really good.”

Aaron Boone has been saying all month he likes to see his players get their “firsts,” of the season out of the way quickly. The Yankee manager thinks that takes some pressure off and lets the player settle in and focus on their task at hand.

It took Gallo longer than most and the Yankees have to hope it snaps him back into the player that he was before he came to the Yankees. The homer was his first since last September and the Bombers think it is a sign of him getting ready to finally break out. First-year hitting coach Dillon Lawson certainly thinks big things are coming from Gallo and soon.

“He’s doing a great job of making contact and when he does make contact, it’s hard contact,” Lawson said last week. “It’s just right at an infielder or it’s right at an outfielder or he hits a ball that isn’t out for the first time in 131 balls like it‘s been in the past.”

Gallo’s 48.3% hard-hit balls is among the top 20 in the majors and his 20.8% barrel rate is among the top three. That formula has always gotten Gallo the power results in the past, which explains some of his early frustration this season.

“I’ve hit some balls hard that haven’t gone out this year,” Gallo said.

One noticeable difference is that Gallo’s launch angle is the lowest of his career (16.3) and well below his career average of 22.

Those past results — and walk rate — in the past and has made his tendency to strike out a lot sustainable in a lineup.

Gallo, who struck out in his final at-bat Tuesday after getting that positive reception, is also striking out more than he has since his second season in the big leagues. Gallo is striking out in 39% of his at-bats this season, the highest rate since 2016. It’s more than the major league average (36%) and combined with the lowest walk rate of his career (11.9) it’s created an issue in the Yankees lineup, which struggled to get going this season.

And that’s made Gallo a target for angry fans, especially when the Yankees offense has struggled — like it did the first 15 games of the season. Or last year, when he came over in a deadline trade with the Rangers and couldn’t get his feet under him.

In 75 games with the Yankees, Gallo is hitting .158/.293/.367 with a .659 OPS and 14 home runs. He’s struck out 111 times in 240 at-bats and walked 44 times.

That’s a considerable difference from his seven years in Texas (.211/.336/.497 with an .833 OPS) and from the player the Yankees thought they were trading for.

So, they have to hope that Tuesday night’s homer was something that can get Gallo back to being himself from his days with the Rangers.

“Hopefully that’s something that continues to get him settled. The last few days for him, he’s had some important at bats where he had a big RBI double and had some hits and some walks,” Boone said. “So, hopefully he’s starting to get settled because when he does, he can really impact.”