Joey Gallo Breaks Down Decision to Sign With Washington Nationals & Impressions of Young Nats Team

[Music] hey Joey welcome um just just to start off why why DC and why the Nationals what stood out to you and kind of what appealed to you about this team I think like for us it was a kind of a good fit just in terms of being able to go somewhere and get to play uh and get get a good opportunity to to get at bats and move around the field and and also I really like the that team too it's a it's always a fun group of guys to play against and it's always challenging uh challenging game so um when you play that team so yeah I'm very excited about that and and obviously the opportunity is is probably the biggest thing for me where I'm at in my career it's it's going to get at bats and and get back to where I can be and um you know I'm just really lucky DC is given me that opportunity and I'm I'm very excited about it and then I know you were with the the Rangers and you went to the Yankees then the Dodgers and then the twins um what what is the past couple years like for you Al if you hear my dog barking in the background I promise that's not me um what the past um years been like for you traveling a lot different places and trying different teams what has that experience been like for you what has that taught you about you if anything sheez man it it's funny because I remember four years ago sitting in Texas playing for the Rangers thinking this is the only team I'm ever going to play for my career and I'm so lucky and then uh man I I blink and I've been on five teams and moved around a lot and you know I kind of look at it as it's it's a blessing too because I get to meet a lot of great people now and there's a lot of people that you know if I did stay on one team my whole career I wouldn't have got to make meet and um so I'm very grateful for that obviously it is tough to to be moving so much and meeting so many people um but you know I'm it's it's it's nice because it's a it's a cool opportunity to like I said I get to meet people people and live in places that you never would before uh so you know I I don't mind it it's I kind of got used to it now the first few teams was a little weird but um you know I'm kind of used to it uh Brandy Flores DC news now hi Joey welcome to DC hope you're having a great day over there and when you were with the twins when you were with the twins last year the Nats came and visited you guys I was wondering if um there was any moment during that series that really stuck out to you and that ultimately helped lead to your decision want to play with that group of guys yeah I mean like I said I just I remember playing against them when we when they were here or when they were in Minnesota I remember it was like 20 degrees it was snowing most of the game so it was a it was a tough series but I just appreciated the way that that team especially being a young team kind of went out there and um they played hard didn't matter what the weather was and whatnot and um just a very competitive team so uh actually that series I I hit a home run off Trevor Williams and uh he he just messaged me or or uh yeah I think it was that Trevor William but uh he messaged me that video and said happy to have you and whatnot so it's was pretty cool um but yeah it's just always a good uh playing against the Nationals was just you can tell they play with they play competitively and um they play the game hard and that's how I play so I really enjoy that and then have you had any conversations yet with your new Skipper Davey Martinez what has he kind of told you I mean obviously welcome I'm sure but has he told you mainly what kind of role you might be stepping into obviously being a lead a veteran in the league yeah I think so I talked to him on Saturday and um got to talk to the hitting coaches and and obviously it's been Whirlwind because you're meeting a lot of new people um but yeah I think the plan is for me to play some Outfield also play a little first base and kind of just help out where I need to help out um I do take pride in being able to move around the field and uh whenever play any position essentially so so um that's kind of what I told him is hey wherever you need me to play I can play that's that's not a big deal I'm pretty versatile so um yeah it's it's exciting I've heard nothing but great things about him too uh players love him seems like media loves him and everybody that meet meets him loves him so uh very excited to get around him and and kind of see what kind of energy he has and uh it's always fun you know I've SE him get thrown out a few times pretty pretty pretty entertaining so I always love that yeah he's a great guy welcome to DC Joey thank you thank you appreciate it Mark Zuckerman Mass sports.com hey Joey um probably since you came into the league I think most people around the sport kind of have an idea of what you're bringing to the table offensively kind of what your game is but I'm curious like what is important to you in that regard like what what stats do you look at the most and like what says to you that you've had a good season offensively yeah I mean obviously we we all kind of know in this day and age there's a lot of different numbers that you can look to and analytically um point to uh for me obviously I am a a slugger um I want to be more than that I I don't it's it's not I don't really like being known as just like some strikeout home run hitter guy obviously it's not really my plan when I was growing up to be considered like this three true outcome guy um but it's just kind of the way I've always swung and just kind of the player I was but for me I want to get back to like these putting the ball on play more I thought last year I struck out too much um and you know you got to put the ball on play to make things happen too so I think last year was tough with that but for me let's answer your question Ops isolated slugging you know I don't look at average because I want to throw up if I do so I gotta relax on that one but for me I'm a walk guy um that's that's my singles a lot of times is is getting on base drawing walks maybe having an eight pitch at bat um so for me it's on basee Ops things like that obviously I would like the average to go up it's not like I'm against the hitting higher average but it's it's a little hard so uh but yeah it's more of those stats for me more the stats for like a slugger Yeah you mentioned putting the ball in play more the Nets have been one of the better teams in baseball at that recent years they've kind of struggled on the power Department which I know they're happy to have you for how do you work on putting the ball in play more without kind of losing your identity and and you know losing the power stroke that you do have yeah and that's the that's the big you know the big wh if is there there has been times in the past where I I did try to change my swing and slow it down and maybe not swing as hard or as aggressively um and I actually kind of backfires and goes the other way because then you kind of lose a feel for who you are and so for me it's I've had success in this league kind of doing it this way but I'm not stubborn enough to think oh this is how I have to hit this is this is what I do don't tell me what to do I'm very open to listening to uh anything you know coaches tell me and whatnot but um yeah I think if you try to change too much you know I thought in New York I I Tred to get putting the ball in play too much and ended up striking out even more and and also power went down and and slugging went down so it is that fine line of hey I got to get my swings off but I also do got to make sure I'm putting the ball in play enough I'm not just up there swinging and missing thank you DUS camarado nationals.com Joey welcome um when you mentioned that you'd be playing some Outfield and some first base what would you say you bring to both of those positions yeah I think Outfield wise uh I love playing Outfield it's obviously position I've won couple gold gloves at I like being able to bring value with my range and my arm out there uh I like to just be athletic um but I also love first space as well uh I think I I came up as a third baseman I think a lot of people forget I I never played Outfield until 2019 you know I never was an outfielder my whole life I played infield so I'm very comfortable at first base um and I thought I was able to do pretty well over there this year with Minnesota but for me I think having a big first Bas that can pick um you know make plays for you where you don't have to worry about maybe I throw a ball bad I want to have a first basement there that I can trust so that's that's what I try to bring at first base for our guys and um you know I'm excited about that I like being able to play Outfield and infield um growing up that really wasn't a thing but nowadays it's starting to be a thing again where you got to bring that versatility so I work really hard at being able to do both at a at a high level yeah I think I can see some awards glistening in the background uh behind you your lighting was good yeah they look nice so on top of it I had turn just in case I got what's the most important thing that you want to impart on uh on some of your new younger teammates at any position that you may be playing yeah I think well for me it kind of reminds me of the situation we were in with the Rangers a little bit ago where we had a lot of young talent and um some veterans there and for me I always loved having young guys around because you can I I like them to watch me and how I run how I play uh necessarily not maybe not necessarily hit whatever but just the way you go about your business uh and I think for for young guys I had Adrien Bel tree who just got into the Hall of Fame congrats to that um you know Prince Fielder Josh Hamilton like I had some very very good leaders and I learned a lot from those guys and I feel like I can translate that into helping these young guys that I'm going to have now I love I love playing with young guys they're always energetic and they just want to play and have fun and um so for me I just want to bring that to the table of hey this is how you work um this is how this is what it takes to be in the big leagues for six seven eight years sometimes you know and and I feel like I have a career still ahead of me but I I definitely want to help those guys out and um just play the game hard I always run hard I always try to um respect the game and and that's just something I I try to have our young guys do as well uh Scott Abraham ABC7 hey Joey welcome to DC glad to have you part of the club um you know you me mentioned about moving from Team to team over the last couple of years is there a sense of urgency to to kind of make this work of of not not just one year maybe two three four years staying here in DC is there kind of that sense of urgency of your part to kind of make a second home like you had in Texas maybe here in DC yeah I think I think that's always the goal um every team you know you're you're with you want you want to make that your home and um so for me obviously I would love that I'm obviously open to that uh I think you know we start with you know go day by day and just see how things go but obviously that would be amazing you know I actually was just out there Friday flew in to get a physical and I never really been to DC a lot uh only played there one time in my whole career uh like beautiful city man I was just like blown away like how how awesome it was and um yeah obviously it would be great to make that my home one day but there there's things right now that we're focused on of short term and then we'll see what where that goes from there but uh obviously tremendous tremendously excited to to be in DC you know you know kind of the piece is already in place with this club what what excites you kind of specifically about the guys the positions maybe the starting rotation the bullpen specifically what what kind of intrigues you about this group of of young ball players yeah I think a lot of when you look at the roster and just from playing against them a little bit last year it's like a lot of young very athletic talent and um it's always fun to be around guys like that that so uh I'm just excited to kind of be around like you said a young group of guys with energy with with almost don't really know what's in front of them yet and it's it's guys like that where they they bring that energy every day in the clubhouse and um it's always fun to be around guys like that so it seems like that that club is like that and from the people have reached out to me I mean everybody has been tremendously nice and uh like I said I can't wait to get started but I think that young aspect is is very appealing because um it's just F this a little more fun when you're playing around guys like that I I think uh Mark Zuckerman again Mass sports.com hey it's it's been a slow offseason across baseball you know free agents everywhere still waiting to sign what was that process like for you and did it reach a point at all that you start to get frustrated and think hey I'm you know few weeks away from from camps opening and I don't know where I'm GNA be at yeah I think I never got frustrated uh I understood that there was um a pecking order as well and there's a process to to things usually the big guys are going to go out first and and you kind of just have to wait and see where chips chips fall but um yeah obviously it's weird to to just sit and kind of wait but you stay busy you know I'm working out and hitting and um I tried not to I really tried not to get impatient and try to just see the whole process through it's if I sign first day offseason or last day offseason I'm still on some the same play and so for me there was no urgency or anything um but you obviously there is like a little bit where you're like oh man hopefully hopefully I get to play again next year and this is getting a little close now but I didn't really doubt I wouldn't be able to find anything um so like I said couldn't be happier where I ended up like all honesty like it's it's such a great situation and and and I'm very grateful and just beyond what you had seen yourself and figured out about the Nets was there any anybody that talked to you or like any anything that you relied on to help you get a sense of okay this this is the team that I I think I want to go to yeah I think you know obviously when you talk you're talking with your agent and you kind of just you know hey how's their front office how's their their guys that you have there you know and everybody just said every everything was glowingly um you know great reviews on everybody so I haven't heard one bad thing obviously you know it's it's it's when you sign they're not going to tell anything bad but I just I can't wait to be around those guys and um like I said I haven't got to play the Nationals a lot so I don't really know much about DC or even the coaches there and whatnot so you kind of just have to go from what you hear but like I said everything I've heard has been tremendous and um like I said I can't them reaching out it's I mean we've been talking every day now the hitting coaches Chris Johnson um Darnell Kohl's and and just building a relationship and they're just really easygoing guys and it's always nice to have that kind of chemistry around Andrew golden Washington Post hey you mentioned um obviously not would be a three three true outcome guy want to change things around what are some of the things you've been working on this offseason to kind of combat that and and turn that around what are things you've been working on yeah so we've we made a pretty decent amount of adjustments with my swing I I been hitting with Matt holiday up in Oklahoma State so I'm in Dallas so uh you know it's a four hour drive so I get to go up there and hit with him but a lot of it is Direction and I think a lot of it in my best years I was really working the whole field more and I was using the middle of the field more and it seemed like last year I started off that way and maybe fell into some bad habits or or whatnot and I started to pull the ball a little more and get to you know obviously just pull happy and that's never a good thing when you're just kind of locked into one side of the field so it's about just getting my direction back I narrow up a little bit kind of by kind of hit how I used to maybe a few years ago um but yeah just those small little adjustments like that and just being able to use the whole field and I feel very good with where I'm at right now so I'm very excited to get out there and and kind of see see see what it looks like and see how it plays yeah I want to ask about the about the pulling I think you pulled like 56% of the time last year I guess when that's happening in the moment like like are you aware of that or something that when you go back and look at the offseason then you process that or did you know it was happening as you were doing it if that makes sense yeah no definitely you definitely know you definitely know when it's going on um it's it's tough to fix I think a lot of times people think you can just go in the cage and everything's fixed and it's you know when you're doing something every day you kind of get into a rhythm you get into a habit and it's hard to break that habit sometimes so um for me I thought last year I try I was trying so much stuff and I really wanted to start using the whole field but you know sometimes it's it it takes an offseason to reset and get back to where you need to go um so for me that's that's kind of where where I'm at now but I definitely knew what was going on I definitely knew I was striking out way too much um I don't like the look exactly how much I am until maybe after the season but yeah it's it's something that you're always aware of it it's it's our life so it's it means everything to us man so we're we're very very aware of that all right a couple more go to Bobby Blanco Masson sports.com hey Joey welcome to DC um you mentioned working out with Matt holiday and when we talked to Nick senzel last month he mentioned the same thing did you cross paths with him while working out with Matt holiday what was that experience like no I actually didn't he was he went um a couple weeks before I had went and but I do remember Matt saying something about him saying he was funny and swing looked really good and uh that was obviously before I knew I was going to be teammates with him um but yeah he's he he's been up there a few times so they got a cool little setup up there and I haven't ran into him yet but obviously starting to follow guys on Instagram now and and message guys and say what's up and um you don't really want to get ahead of yourself and now that it's official I can kind of do that so very excited to be be around those groups of guys and it seems like it's a really good group and um should be fun and we'll finish with David Aldridge the athletic hey Joey welcome to DC man um you've been the last couple years on contending teams and I I apologize as a couple minutes late so if you've been asked A variation in this question I apologize but just in terms of kind of resetting your own calibrations on a team that's kind of rebuilding and is kind of starting from scratch again um does that change not your approach to every day and how you play but just kind of the message you give to young players or to the guys on your team knowing that this group is maybe a couple years away from being at their very best yeah I think so for me like I said it was it reminds me of that Ranger situation where we have those young guys and yeah we might not be contending right now but there's there's still very important at bats to be had there's still very important games to be played and and this is where I think young guys you know it's almost nice to get that opportunity to a guy can just go play and there's really no pressure yet um I thought that's why when I got to Texas it was an ideal situation because I got I just got to play and I got to play a whole season without having to worry about necessarily oh we're not winning the World Series this year or whatever and not to say that I don't think we can Washington you just you never know what's going to happen baseball happens all the time it's just it's crazy but I think understanding for the younger players is my my advice for them would be just focus on development you know and and make sure you're not getting too caught up in the results every single day you're more caught up about the development of it because that's going to take you a lot longer in this game than uh you know if you're just worrying on short-term success and that's something I I need to work on as well so um you know I I I like being able to kind of just work with young guys and because I know how hard this game is and I've been through a lot in this game uh and I and I want to be able to help those young guys so they could maybe have advice that they could use when they fall into a tough situation to they get themselves out of [Music] it oh