Joey Gallo was back in the lineup Monday after leaving Saturday’s game and sitting out Sunday with neck stiffness, the latest issue the streaky Gallo has dealt with since arriving in a trade from Texas.
Gallo said Monday that the adjustment process is ongoing.
“I’m still dealing with it,” Gallo said before the Yankees defeated his former team in The Bronx. “I was so used to being a Texas Ranger. To this day, I’m still getting used to it.”
In his previous seven games — six of which were starts — before the injury, Gallo was in the best stretch of his brief Yankee tenure.
He was 8-for-22 with six homers, a walk and seven strikeouts.
Gallo went hitless with a walk and a strikeout on Monday, adding a diving catch in left.
Joey Gallo strikes out during the seventh inning of the Yankees’ win over the Rangers on Sept. 20, 2021.Robert SaboStill, he hasn’t won over Yankee fans after getting off to a horrendous start in The Bronx.
With his old team in town, Gallo was asked about the differences in playing in the vastly different markets — and getting booed for the first time.
“I feel like I’m pretty good at handling it,” Gallo said. “I haven’t played that great, so I’ve been booed. You expect that to happen in New York.”
But it’s happened more than the Yankees or Gallo would have liked.
“You try to get used to it,” Gallo said. “This is a passionate fan base that wants you to succeed. If you play great, there’s no better place to be. It just takes a little bit of getting used to.”
