If you were to pick a face, a player, to represent where baseball is trending, Joey Gallo might be the one.

This post isn’t intended to serve as an endorsement of Gallo as an elite player, but rather to suggest that he embodies its trends as well as anyone. The game continues to include more home runs, more strikeouts, more walks, and fewer balls in play — to the angst of some (many?). Gallo is one of the Three True Outcome kings in the sport, a point detailed by one of FanGraphs’ community writers earlier this year.

Gallo leads qualified hitters in strikeout rate (38.6%), is tied for eighth in home runs (20), and he ranks 37th in walk rate (11.8%). Gallo is concluding 57.8% of his plate appearances with a strikeout, homer, or a walk.

And he is not just a TTO king, he is a young TTO king. He’s among the new generation of players who have worked with private instructors, who has enjoyed access to modern strength training and conditioning. Growing up in Las Vegas, Gallo spent every weekend at the Bryant home. That of Kris Bryant and Bryant’s father Mike. Gallo’s father and Mike Bryant were friends and former pro players. They had played in an adult hardball league after their professional playing days. Mike Bryant was a private hitting instructor who had built a batting cage in the backyard of his property. It’s where Kris Bryant learned to swing and swing to lift and drive. Mike had his son and Gallo hit imaginary targets at the top of the cage. Gallo spent countless hours there. As a quid pro quo, Gallo’s father taught the Bryant boys how to pitch.

“We worked on hitting the ball in the air, that’s all they taught. ‘Hit the ball in the air, hit the ball in the air, hit the ball in the air,’” Gallo said. “It was that new-generation thinking for him. It was a still a time where people were swinging straight down and saying, ‘Hit the ball on the ground.’”

And ever since he’s been 11 years old, Gallo said he’s “hit the ball further than every one.”

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And maybe Aaron Judge is the only living person who can launch a ball further.

That Gallo is a regular in the Rangers’ lineup despite a .194 batting average is also something of interest. It’s representative of something else: of how much the game has changed in valuing and understanding performance.

We all have comps we like to attach to players. As a Clevelander in the 1990s and early 2000s, I see in Gallo a lot of Russell Branyan. Branyan was a TTO king in his time; he could also play third base and in the outfield. He was a left-handed hitter who had 80-grade power and an obscene strikeout rate.

Branyan broke into the majors in 1999 and played his final MLB season in 2011. He last played professionally in the Mexican League in 2014. During the his major-league career, however, he was afforded 300 or more plate appearances just four times in a season.

Despite the high strikeout rate, Branyan still produced a 111 wRC+ for his career. He could play all four corner positions. And, on the two occasions when he did receive nearly full playing time, he produced 2.7-win season (in 2009) and a 2.1-win season (in 2010), his age-33 and -34 campaigns. He might have been a useful regular if given a chance. But earlier in the century, a 30% strikeout rate was considered a non-starter for playing time by many a decision maker.

This season in Texas, the Rangers have let Gallo play and aren’t forcing him to change anything about his swing.

“It’s always been the same swing,” Gallo said. “It’s the same motions and same swing.”

Gallo and the Rangers believe he’ll be able to reduce his strikeout rate to a degree. For a model, they need look no further than Bryant himself. The reigning NL MVP is a player who dropped his strikeout rate from 31% to 22% from his first to second seasons in the majors. Gallo, 23, is in his first full season and has spoken with the similarly long-limbed Bryant about the adjustments he made.

“[Bryant said,] ‘I started to see guys [opposing pitchers] over and over, started to see how they want to get me out, and give me a better plan at the plate,’” said Gallo in recalling a conversation with his old friend. “I think one thing people don’t understand if they haven’t played the game at a high level is when you are facing a new pitcher, there can be a report, but you don’t know what it looks like. You are going up there blind-folded. Every pitcher is different to every type of hitter.”

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels also believes Gallo will be able to reduce his swing-and-miss rate in part.

“I think he’s always going to be a guy with a higher-than-average strikeout rate,” Daniels told FanGraphs. “But there are always adjustments to be made. I think one thing that is easy to forget is he’s 23 and it’s his first real year in the big leagues. Some of the comps I’ve heard in the past are kind of stiffer, non-athletes… Joey has a good swing, he is intelligent, over time he is going to make some adjustments and is going to be able to cut down on strikeouts.”

What is important to note is that even if Gallo makes no changes, the Rangers are willing to live with his current level of performance. And they should be comfortable with that level. Gallo’s wRC+ to date of 106 is slightly above average, he is an excellent baserunner (4.6 runs above average), and a versatile defender.

Daniels recounted a story about how he was watching a Rangers-Indians game from the seats in Progressive Field earlier this week, and a fan was disgusted that the Indians walked Gallo, whom the fan noted wasn’t not even hitting .200.

“He actually does that quite a bit,” Daniels said of the walk.

Rather than suggest change when he is slumping, Gallo said the Rangers have been supportive.

“Sometimes I get caught up in, ‘Man, I am striking out too much.’ I get down on myself,” Gallo said. “They [Rangers coaches and front office staff] say ‘Who cares? You are helping the team. You are playing defense, providing power, running the bases.

“It’s more [Rangers manager Jeff] Banister and the [staff] telling me it’s OK that I’m the player I am.”

And while he’s an extreme example, Gallo is the type of player who’s likely to occupy a greater share of the playing population.

“You can’t have nine of me on a team because we might not get a hit for four days,” Gallo said. “But if you have a guy like me sprinkled in a lineup, a couple of those guys can help you win games. They take one swing and you score three runs… You are always going to have guys like Delino [DeShields]. it’s about mixing those roles together.”

Gallo is the face of the new game, and he is OK where the game is, though he acknowledges it is somewhat amusing that he has 20 home runs and only 13 singles this season.

“It’s a different game. There are going to be home runs and strikeouts. That’s just the way it is stacking up,” Gallo said. “I don’t think there is a problem with it. I like it because that’s the kind of player I am.

“I think the fans like it, too. For a pitcher, the most exciting thing is a strikeout. For a hitter, the most exciting thing is a home run. If we have those at high numbers, then the future of this game is going to be pretty fun to watch.”