On Wednesday, Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo did something never before accomplished in MLB history.
Joey Gallo reached a milestone on Wednesday. With his third inning home run off of Nick Kingham, the Texas Rangers slugger belted his 100th career home run. He became the fastest player to reach that plateau in American League history, and the third fastest player in baseball history to reach 100 homers, trailing only Ralph Kiner and Ryan Howard.
Gallo also made history in another way on Wednesday. He became the first player in MLB history to hit his 100th homer before his 100th single, as Gallo has just 93 singles in his MLB career.
Joey Gallo is the 1st player in MLB history to reach 100 career HR before 100 career singles.
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) May 8, 2019
He just hit homer number 100, and he's got 93 singles.
h/t @EliasSports
This follows a pattern from Gallo over the past few years. Since 2016, Gallo has hit more homers than singles every year, a testament to his prodigious power, and the exaggerated shifts that are so prevalent against him.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
So far, 2019 has been a different season for Gallo. While he is still hitting for incredible power with 12 homers already on the season, he also was actually hitting at a surprisingly respectable clip. Heading into Wednesday, Gallo had a career best .269/.412/.654 batting line, with 22 walks and only 44 strikeouts in his 131 plate appearances.
Gallo has been the ultimate three true outcome player over his career. In hitting his 100th homer with only 93 singles, he quickly surpassed the previous low mark of Russell Branyan, who had 172 singles at the time of his 100th homer.
Even with the focus on launch angles, hitting the ball into the air, and the all or nothing approach that has become commonplace, there are few players that are that type of Three True Outcome player. Even the great young sluggers in the game today have a more well rounded game, instead of being the more one dimensional slugger.
Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo belted his 100th career home run with just 93 singles. That may be a mark that is never beaten.