Freddy Galvis

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Freddy Jose Galvis
(Toco)

  • Bats Both, Throws Right
  • Height 5' 10", Weight 170 lb.

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Shortstop Freddy Galvis made his major league debut with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2012.

Galvis was signed by scout Sal Agostinelli for the Phillies in 2006. He began his professional career in 2007 with the Williamsport Crosscutters, with whom he hit .203 with nine stolen bases in 38 games. In 2008, with the Lakewood Blue Claws, Galvis hit .238 with 14 stolen bases in 127 games. He split 2009 between the GCL Phillies, Clearwater Threshers and Reading Phillies, hitting a combined .240 in 86 games. He hit .233 with 15 stolen bases with Reading in 2010. In 2011, he hit .273 in 104 games for Reading, then improved to .298 in 33 contests with the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs. This gave him an overall batting line of .278/.324/.392 in 137 games, with 78 runs and 23 steals.

The Phillies were glad about Galvis' improved 2011 showing when they ran into injury problems during spring training in 2012. Starting 2B Chase Utley was out all camp with tendinitis in his knees, while presumptive back-up Michael Martinez was also out, with a broken foot. That suddenly put Galvis on the inside track to win the opening day job. On June 19th, however, Galvis was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for a metabolite of Clostebol, a banned steroid. He was hitting .226 with 24 RBI as the starter at second base, and had impressed observers with his excellent defensive play. He was back in the major in 2013 and played 70 games, getting starts at second and third base, shortstop and left field. He hit .234 with 6 homers and 19 RBI, seeing his OPS+ improve from 64 in his rookie season to a more acceptable 83.

Galvis suffered another setback in spring training in 2014. He was on track to earn a roster spot as a back-up infielder when he suffered a cut on his knee during a Grapefruit League game on March 16th. What looked like a routine and minor injury turned out to be much more serious as an abscess developed on the wound, and then an antibiotic-resistant infection set in. While doctors were confident the problem would be cured, he would miss opening day, while the Phillies had to clean out their clubhouse thoroughly to prevent the risk of further infection. he ended up making his debut on April 11th and played 43 games for the Phils, hitting only .176 in 119 at-bats. Because of various health issues, he did not play regularly in the minors either, being limited to 45 games at three levels, including hitting .267 in 35 games for the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

In spite of this lack of production and playing time, he headed into spring training as the favorite to be the Phillies' starting shortstop in 2015, because long-time incumbent Jimmy Rollins had been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the off-season and the Phillies did not really have any one else to start at the position in the immediate, until top prospect J.P. Crawford could potentially step in. The Phillies were confident that Galvis could handle the job defensively, but his bat was still a question mark, as was his durability. He played 151 games that season, the first of three straight with 150 or more games, putting aside any concerns about durability. He also exceeded expectations with his bat, finishing at .263, with 7 homers, 63 runs and 50 RBIs. In 2016, his average fell to .241 and his OBP to a dismal .274, but his power picked up considerably as he hit 26 doubles and 20 homers, resulting in 61 runs and 67 RBIs. In 2017, he hit .255 with 12 homers and 51 RBIs while appearing in all 162 of his team's games. Because his OBP remained quite low, his OPS+ was still just 83, which was still his highest since 2013.

On December 15, 2017, Galvis was traded to the San Diego Padres in return for P Enyel De Los Santos. The trade was a bit puzzling given the Padres already had a bit of a log-jam of infielders even before adding Freddy to the mix. However, the other infielders had to make way for him as he played all 162 games for the Padres in 2018, with 157 of his starts coming at shortstop and the other 5 at second base. He was his second straight year of not missing a single game, but this time he had started them all, whereas 6 of his appearances in 2017 had come as a pinch-hitter. He hit .248 with 13 homers and 67 RBIs, in line with his numbers the previous seasons. He became a free agent after the season and on January 29, 2019, he signed a one-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays worth $5 million. He took over as the team's starting shortstop at the beginning of the season, although manager Charlie Montoyo made it clear that it was likely his streak of consecutive games played would end sooner or later. On April 4th. He broke up a no-hit bid by the Cleveland Indians with a single off reliever Brad Hand to lead off the 9th. He later came in to score, but the Jays lost the game, 4-1. He played very well through early August, maintaining a batting average of .276, with 24 doubles, 18 homers, 55 runs and 54 RBIs in 115 games. He also played excellent defense at shortstop, then after Bo Bichette was promoted to the big league club at the end of July, played a few more games at second. However, by that point, it was clear that the Jays wanted their "infield of the future", composed 2B Cavan Biggio, SS Bichette and 3B Vladimir Guerrero Jr., to play together as much as possible the rest of the way. The Jays thanked Galvis for his good work and his mentoring of the younger players, and then placed him on waivers on August 12th, when he was immediately claimed by the Cincinnati Reds. He finished the year by hitting .234 in 32 games for the reds, giving him a batting line of .260 with 23 homers and 70 RBIs in 1147 games. Both the home run and RBI totals were a personal best.

Galvis returned to Cincinnati in 2020 appearing in 47 of the 60 games during the pandemic-shortened season. He batted .220 with 7 homers and 16 RBIs while splitting his time between shortstop and second base. The Reds qualified for the expanded playoffs that season, giving Freddy his first opportunity to play in the postseason. He went 1 for 3 with a walk as the Reds were swept in two games by the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card Series. He became a free agent again after the season and signed with the Baltimore Orioles for 2021, in a role similar to the one he had filled with the Blue Jays two years earlier: play the infield at the start of the year until some of the youngsters being groomed in the organization were ready to take over. He played 72 games as the Birds' starting shortstop, hitting .249 with 9 homers and 26 RBIs and at the trading deadline was sent to Philadelphia for a second go-round, in return for a minor leaguer, Tyler Burch. He played all four infield positions in 32 games for Philly, but batted just .224, although he still hit 5 homers and for the season his OPS+ was 91, right around his career average. The Phillies failed to make it to the postseason and this time he looked outside of Major League Baseball for his next job, signing on December 15th a two-year contract with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Pro Baseball.

Notable Achievements[edit]

  • 20-Home Run Seasons: 2 (2016 & 2019)

Further Reading[edit]

  • Jesse Sanchez: "Galvis honored to be representing Venezuela: Phils shortstop an important piece for Aguilas del Zulia in Caribbean Series", mlb.com, February 2, 2017. [1]
  • Todd Zolecki: "Galvis ready to step up as everyday shortstop for Phillies: Club has not needed player in that position since Rollins debuted in 2001", mlb.com, February 22, 2015. [2]

Related Sites[edit]