Twin Pokes

Peshastin’s Joey Gallo is a renowned slugger who has had a surprising struggle to settle into a star role.  The Pears acquired him as an EFL rookie in 2016, and have been patiently waiting for him to blossom.  This year looks like the year the Pears have been praying for.  Gallo is hitting .316, .519, .684 in May, his 1.203 OPS just a hair better than his season mark of 1.1o6

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Josh Bell has been less visible as a prospect. At 26, he’s a year older, and with only 12 homers last year, his reputation as a budding slugger took a massive hit. Still, the Wolverines were happy to snag him in the 2017 rookie draft, and have been waiting 2/3 as patiently as Pears for him to blossom. This year looks like the year the Wolverines have been waiting for.  Bell is batting .375, .464, .750 in May. That’s an improvement over his 1.075 season OPS,  and may be barely enough to hang onto his first base job, especially with Vogelbach slumping lately.

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On Wednesday Gallo hit a 443-foot blast over the right-center bleachers in Pittsburgh’s PNC park.  The ball bounced on the wide promenade and ended up in the Allegheny River.

That was in the third inning, In the fourth Bell answered, blasting a 472-foot rocket over the right field stands … and directly into the Allegheny on the fly. That was only the fourth time anyone had ever hit a ball directly into the Allegheny.

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I gather Gallo is playing center field for the Rangers right now, so his path is never going to cross Bell’s while Gallo is on defense.  But Bell plays first base.  So when Gallo walked in the fifth, he took the opportunity to congratulate Bell. There is a video clip of them chatting, which the Pirates announcers interpreted as a conversation about who can hit the ball farthest into the river.  But I read their lips better:

Gallo:  Nice poke!

Bell:  Nice poke yourself.

Gallo:  We hit over 900 feet of homer between us.

Bell:  Yep.

Gallo:  Your Wolverines passed my Pears in the standings Tuesday.

Bell:  Yep.

Gallo:  I wish I was a Wolverine.  Any room on the roster for a slugging center fielder?

Bell:  No.  Schwarber is playing there now, since he’s our best outfielder.

Gallo:  I said “a slugging center fielder.”

Bell:  Good point.  But Schwarb’s been working with Vogelbach, his new hitting guru.  He’s gonna start slugging any day now.  Are you willing to go back to left field when Schwarbs gets his act together?

Gallo:  If it gets me on the Wolverines, sure.

Bell.  There’s another problem: when Mallex Smith blossoms, you’ll ride the pines.

Gallo and Bell:  Hahahahaha.

Gallo:  What about when Lewis Brinson blossoms?

Bell and Gallo:  Hahahahahahahahaha!

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