9:16pm: Gallo is “likely” to miss six weeks, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes.
5:38PM: Gallo underwent the surgery today and is expected to be sidelined for at least four weeks, Rangers executive VP of communications John Blake tweets. Willie Calhoun has been called up to replace Gallo on the 25-man roster.
2:07PM: Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo will undergo surgery to fix a broken hamate bone in his right hand, The Athletic’s Levi Weaver reports (Twitter link). Reports yesterday suggested that Gallo would likely require an injured list stint to recover from a nagging wrist injury.
Judging from the timelines associated to most players who have undergone hamate procedures, Gallo should miss roughly four-to-six weeks of time, though there’s obviously quite a bit of variance involved given the nature of hand injuries. If Gallo’s recovery time is on the longer end of that spectrum, the rest of his season could very well be in doubt, as the Rangers might ultimately opt to just shut Gallo down in September rather than bring him back for two or three weeks of what will likely be meaningless games.
Even if Gallo is able to return, his latest injury is the second major interruption in what began as a huge breakout season for the 25-year-old. Gallo was hitting .276/.421/.653 with 17 homers over his first 214 plate appearances of the season before an oblique sent him to the IL on June 2. After returning in late June, Gallo posted only a .197/.305/.465 slash line over his next 83 PA, as he had reportedly been battling wrist issues for several weeks in the leadup to his broken hamate diagnosis.
While always a big slugger in his two previous seasons, Gallo’s big steps forward as an all-around hitter (he had only a .203 career batting average and .317 career OBP prior to 2019) and his above-average defensive grades as a center fielder and left fielder have to make the Rangers feel like they’ve found a new face of the franchise. Gallo’s huge numbers were a big part of the Rangers’ surprisingly competitive performance over the first few months, and it isn’t any shock that the team’s recent slump has coincided with Gallo’s lack of production. With Gallo now on the IL, attention will turn to what names Texas is likely to deal away prior to the July 31 trade deadline.
southern lion
Unfortunate.
twinsfan368
Yikes
Whiskey and leather balls
well lil willie calhoun now is your time to shine
Daniel Youngblood
Yep. This could actually be a blessing in disguise. It will buy Calhoun two full months of every day at-bats and allow Gallo the opportunity to relax and get fully healthy for next season — neither of which will cost the Rangers much in a season that’s likely to end after Game 162 and both of which put them in a better position to compete next year.
ThePriceWasRight
doèsnt guarantee willie anything unless they move another bat. should move pence and Santana now while value is high
Ricky Adams
Not guaranteed, but very likely. They prefer pence at dh and with santana the utility guy and likely to get bulk of time at 1st with guzman back at triple a. That pretty much makes dd, choo, mazara, and calhoun ur of. And with mazara not playing well and choo not playing in field everyday. That leaves calhoun playing almost everyday by process of elimination
Daniel Youngblood
Santana is playing first primarily, now that Guzman’s been optioned. That leaves four spots for Calhoun, DeShields, Mazara, Choo and Pence.
Assuming that Pence is traded, which is likely given his performance and contract situation, it’s highly likely that Willie will have an every day spot by Aug. 1.
tsc32
Calhoun will get AB’s. The only reason he went to Nashville was for consistent AB’s. Now that he can get that in Arlington, he’ll get them.
Ejemp2006
Everyone in the league is hitting 20 plus homers. Pence has relative value less than Cole Calhoun so, very small.
User 4245925809
I’ve seen this same injury and surgery take a year for power hitter to regain full strength after surgery and go back decades. Not return fully again.
Be glad if a big guy, with this much strength in his wrists and arms is back to normal by ST everyone and call it a blessing..
Mystery Team
Tell that to Matt Olson doc.
Tha Dilla
Stanton had the same injury and came back and hit 59 homeruns
Dumpster Divin Theo
He could be out decades? Yikes. Hopefully the Rangers will still be contenders then
Ejemp2006
Not all breaks are same. Seeing a citation about osteoblasts and osteoclasts can be a blast but the plaster is wet so don’t place a bet against our Joe to show mo mo mo
Wahoo What a Finish!
4 to 6 weeks? I kind of doubt this return timeline. When Michael Brantley had this surgery it knocked him out of baseball activities for 3 months.
ThePriceWasRight
olson returned in 6 weeks for the As no? still why push it
Steve Adams
Six weeks is common for hamate surgery. Brantley had his in late August 2011, so it ended his season. Not sure where you’re getting three months from with him.
swartnp7
Trade for Cory Dickerson or Melky Cabrera. Pirates are on the ropes.
leg-it-out
we have plenty of outfielders in the pipeline, no need to bring it someone elses garbage…what i wonder is at any point do we see scott heinemen, dudes raking in AAA, i know willie is due for his call but i think it would be cool to see both. suppose u have to trade pence to do so
CursedRangers
Agreed – won’t be surprised to see Pence traded. His clubhouse presence and leadership would be a welcome addition for many of the contending teams.
tsc32
Lol we’re sellers. We don’t want your scraps.
skip tracey
only 4 weeks? That seems like it’s too quick to be ready after a surgery. Then again I’m no doctor but I did sleep in a… I know I’ll see my self out.
Emerson83
Griffey did that once on a swing. Broke my 11 yr old heart
24TheKid
Made it so he couldn’t check his swing the rest of his career, destroyed his average.
jorge78
No Baseball Reference link for Calhoun?