TAMPA, Fla. — There was a time when Joey Gallo terrified pitchers. The former Yankees outfielder crushed 208 home runs across 10 MLB seasons. He earned two All-Star selections and two Gold Glove Awards. Yankees fans once dreamed he would be the left-handed power bat that changed everything.
That chapter is over. The 32-year-old is no longer swinging a bat for a living. He is throwing off a mound. And this week, his unlikely reinvention took a significant step forward.
A slugger’s painful decline with Yankees and beyond
Yankees fans remember the excitement of July 2021. New York traded four prospects to the Rangers for Joey Gallo, hoping his lefty power would transform the lineup. Aaron Judge spoke glowingly of what Gallo’s bat could bring to the order.
It never materialized. In 140 games wearing pinstripes across parts of two seasons, Gallo hit .159 with a 38.7% strikeout rate. The boos at Yankee Stadium rattled him deeply. The ex-Yankees star later admitted that his confidence crumbled in New York and that he wished the Yankees stint had never happened.
The Yankees traded him to the Dodgers in August 2022. From there, the freefall continued. He hit .162 with Los Angeles, then .177 with the Twins in 2023. A one-year deal with the Nationals in 2024 produced a .161 average across 76 games with 102 strikeouts in just 260 plate appearances.
By 2025, Gallo was a non-roster invitee with the White Sox. He went 2-for-20 with 11 strikeouts in spring training before the club released him. At that point, the bat was done. Gallo knew it. But he wasn’t ready to walk away from baseball.
Gallo throws for teams as pitching comeback gains steam
MLB insider Jon Heyman reported Friday that Gallo has begun throwing for interested teams in Florida as a right-handed pitcher.
Heyman posted on X: “Joey Gallo, righty pitcher, is beginning to throw for teams now. Been working out in Florida.”
The report came nearly a year after the ex-Yankees outfielder announced his intention to switch positions. When the White Sox cut him loose last March, he posted on social media: “It’s been fun outfield.” He then followed up with a clarification that caught the baseball world off guard: “Just to be clear, I will be pitching.”
Since then, the former Yankees outfielder has spent months training in Florida, refining his delivery and building arm strength. He shared video of his progress on social media in November, and the clips showed real arm speed from the 6-foot-5 frame. Multiple teams expressed interest at the Winter Meetings in December, according to Bleacher Report.
Now, Gallo is actually throwing live for front offices. If a team signs him before the 2026 season begins, the comeback stays alive. If not, the window may close for good.
The arm was always there
This is not as far-fetched as it sounds. Before Gallo became one of the most feared sluggers in baseball, he was a dominant high school pitcher at Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas. He threw a no-hitter as a senior and was named the Nevada Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year in 2012. Perfect Game clocked his fastball at 94 mph as a teenager.
He compiled a 1.85 ERA with 17 strikeouts in just over 11 innings that final prep season. The Rangers drafted him 39th overall that year, and his pitching ability was noted in scouting reports at the time. Scouts praised both his mid-90s fastball and a deceptive changeup.
Even as a position player, Gallo’s arm stood out. During his time with the Rangers, his outfield throws averaged 93.9 mph and topped out at 97.6 mph, according to The Athletic. In 2021, he ranked in the 95th percentile in arm strength across all MLB outfielders.
At 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, he has the build of a power pitcher. The raw tools are real. The question is whether a decade away from the mound is too long to bridge.
He is not the only one chasing this path
Gallo joins a small but growing group of former position players attempting to reinvent themselves on the mound. Tyler Naquin, a veteran outfielder who last played for the White Sox in 2023, signed a minor league deal with the Guardians as a pitcher. Brett Phillips, the longtime utility man, signed with the Yankees last year in hopes of making a similar transition. Phillips appeared in one outing with Single-A Tampa before electing free agency.
The most famous example remains Rick Ankiel. The former Cardinals pitching prospect suffered the yips on the mound and reinvented himself as an outfielder, carving out several productive MLB seasons with the bat. Gallo is attempting the reverse.
White Sox assistant GM Josh Barfield noted the trend when Gallo was released. “It’s not unheard of, right? You see it with Ankiel going the other way and Naquin, who was here a couple of years ago, he just signed as a pitcher too.”
Time is running short for the former Yankee
Gallo turns 33 in November. He has not appeared in an MLB game since September 2024. Spring training camps are opening across Florida and Arizona right now. If a club is going to take a chance on him, the decision likely needs to come soon.
A minor league deal would be the most likely path. That would give an organization time to evaluate his stuff against real hitters in a controlled setting before making any roster commitments.
For Yankees fans, Gallo’s name still stirs complicated emotions. The trade to acquire him cost New York four prospects, including Josh Smith, who became a productive everyday player in Texas. Gallo’s time in pinstripes remains one of the more disappointing acquisitions in recent franchise history.
But there is something undeniably compelling about watching a man with 208 career home runs try to get batters out instead of hitting bombs. Whether Gallo ever throws a pitch in an MLB game remains uncertain. What is clear is that he is not done fighting for another chance.
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