The Minnesota Twins closed out their three-game sweep of the White Sox on Sunday in an extra-innings thriller. But had the game gone the other way, Joey Gallo probably wouldn’t have heard the end of it.
Batting in the 11th inning with two outs and runners on first and third, Gallo attempted to drag a bunt on the first pitch and catch the White Sox defense off guard. But instead, the Twins slugger’s bunt traveled 114 feet for an easy pop out to first base.
From a strategic standpoint, the bunt made almost no sense. Gallo has one of baseball’s highest K rates and is hitting .179 on the season. But when he does manage to put the ball in play, he hits it hard. So, why would he do this?
Two-out bunt with Joey Gallo is an interesting choice pic.twitter.com/OBQk3AYFAE
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 23, 2023
According to Gallo — who entered the game in the 10th as a pinch runner — his vision from dealing with conjunctivitis (pinkeye) wasn’t quite where it needed to be yet.
“The fans weren’t too happy about that one. Now they understand why I was doing it,” Gallo said via AP.
Manager Rocco Baldelli also commended Gallo and Willi Castro for contributing to the game on Sunday despite both dealing with pinkeye.
"Pinkeye can't hold these guys down." #MNTwins manager Rocco Baldelli on Willi Castro and Joey Gallo contributing to Minnesota's walk-off win over the ChiSox on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/TmkL2EVq8K
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) July 23, 2023
Still, Gallo probably should have tried to get that bunt down the third-base line given how teams play him to pull (even in the current days of the shift rules). You can’t blame fans for being confused about the bunt without the context of Gallo’s pinkeye and vision issues. After all, the bunt was bad.