Rangers to purchase contract of 3B Joey Gallo prior to Tuesday's game; Place 3B Adrian Beltre on 15-day disabled list
Gallo will be seeking his major league debut in tomorrow night's series opener with the White Sox
Arlington, Texas - The Texas Rangers announced this afternoon that prior to Tuesday's game the club plans to purchase the contract of third baseman Joey Gallo from Double-A Frisco. The team has placed third baseman Adrian Beltre on the 15-day disabled list, effective today, with a sprained left thumb.
Gallo, 21, will be looking to make his major league debut in Tuesday night's series opener with the Chicago White Sox. He has spent the season with Frisco, batting .314 (38-121) with 9 home runs, 10 doubles, and 31 RBI in 34 games. Gallo ranks among Texas League leaders in slugging percentage (2nd, .636), OPS (2nd, 1.061), home runs (3rd), RBI (4th), on-base percentage (5th, .425), and batting average (7th). He also has the circuit's top at-bat per home run ratio at 13.44. All 9 home runs have come in his past 23 games beginning May 6, tied with Fresno's Jon Singleton for most homers in the minor leagues in that span.
Gallo did not play his first game this season until April 25 following surgery on April 3 to remove the os trigonum bone in his left ankle. He was in major league camp with the Rangers this spring for the first time, batting .250 (8-32) with 2 home runs and 6 RBI in 15 games before he was assigned to minor league camp on March 23. The Rangers 2014 Tom Grieve Minor League Player of the Year, Gallo set a club minor league record with 42 home runs last season. In 2013-14, he became the first minor leaguer with back-to-back 40-homer seasons since the White Sox' Ron Kittle in 1981-82.
Beltre suffered his left thumb injury while sliding into second base during the fifth inning of Sunday's game against the Boston Red Sox. He also had a laceration of the thumb which required 4 stitches, but X-rays were negative. The first date he would be eligible to return is June 16. Beltre is batting .257 with 6 home runs and 18 RBI in 51 games for the Rangers this season. His current run of 191 consecutive games played for Texas is the 2nd-longest active streak in the majors.
With the addition of Gallo, the Rangers' major league roster will be at the 40-man limit.