Despite Joey Gallo’s rough offensive week, Chris Woodward says Rangers slugger is ‘fine’

After the Rangers’ thrilling 3-2 win over Colorado on Friday night, clubhouse leader and veteran Todd Frazier waited for Joey Gallo to be ready to head back to the team hotel.

The two walked for 15 minutes together — Frazier knowing Gallo might have needed pep talk. The star slugger is 1-for-his-last 26, with 17 strikeouts. He amid an ice cold stretch after a hot start.

“We had a really good conversation, and I just tried to tell him no matter what happens have as much fun as possible,” Frazier said. “He’s a guy where he wants to do so good so badly. And it kind of reminds myself when I was young, too, that if I’m not helping the team, even though we’re winning, I feel like there’s a thousand pounds on my shoulder.”

Gallo is staying in the lineup. He batted cleanup on Saturday at Colorado, just as he did on Friday. Just as he did last Saturday, the last time he got a hit — a game-winning two-run blast against the Angels.

Manager Chris Woodward also mentioned the mental toll that underperforming has on Gallo — noting that he hoped the next game would go well so Gallo “can sleep at night.”

Woodward said it seems like he’s having trouble knowing when to swing the bat. And when he does know, he’s just fouling the pitches off. It’s nothing physical that’s bothering him, Woodward said.

“I respect the way he goes about his business,” Woodward said. “He’s gonna come in tomorrow and and ask questions and try to figure it out. That’s what he’s done since I’ve known him.”

Gallo is hitting .190 on the season with four homers and a fairly decent .338 on-base-percentage. Through the first nine games, he was hitting .303, with just nine strikeouts in 39 at-bats.

At the outset of the season, Gallo was the one surging amid a sulking order. He blasted a game-tying bomb in a comeback against Arizona. He hit the first Rangers homer at Globe Life Field. He carried the load to some extent.

But the script has flipped recently. The lineup has heated up, somewhat, with Texas winning 6-of-7. But it’s been amid this stretch where Gallo’s offense has disappeared.

“Swing-wise, I don’t think he feels as comfortable as he’d like,” Woodward said. “A couple pitches last night were debatable early, and I think that kind of a little bit derailed him, because he ended up chasing a few that were down below that.

“I know mentally it’s more draining than it is physically. I think he’s fine.”

And Frazier, a veteran, recognized that he could use someone to chat with. On a happy night for the team, Gallo had struck out all four times at the plate.

Frazier wanted to let Gallo know that he had the whole team’s backing, and Frazier’s in particular.

“I tried to tell him, ‘Have as much fun as possible,’” Frazier said. ‘Understand that people look up to you. You’re a guy that I look up to, even though I’m older than you.’ I want to hit the ball just because when he does hit the ball, people are watching. All eyes are on him. He’s an exceptional player.”

Briefly: Frazier was out of the lineup on Saturday because of soreness, Woodward said, along with a quad issue. Woodward also said he wanted to get Derek Dietrich in the game, and give Rougned Odor a chance to build off his performance on Friday.

Woodward said his staff actually checked and confirmed that the Coors Field grass was higher — thus making the field play slower. “It was definitely higher,” Woodward said, noting that the Rangers have told baserunners to make sure they advance extra bases when possible.

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