Philadelphia Phillies: Analysis of Freddy Galvis’ Opening Day

Since I am just one man, there can’t be a “Siskel and Ebert” review of Freddy Galvis’ debut yesterday, but some analysis is in order nonetheless. 

Galvis, without a doubt, is ready to play defense at the major league level. The double-play pivot he turned with Jimmy Rollins in the first inning was a thing of beauty as he rifled the relay to first. Galvis has always played shortstop, which is a much more difficult position than second base, except when it comes to the double-play pivot.

Having a cannon like Galvis can make up for a lot of footwork mechanics or troubles around the bag. He definitely has that.

Phillies fans can probably recall former Blue Jays second basemen Robbie Alomar’s range during the 1993 World Series. The guy was all over the place and that’s one of the reasons he is in Cooperstown now. Galvis has plenty of that as well and it will continue to get better as he learns to read the ball off the bat from the right side of the diamond compared to the left side.

If the Phillies were rolling out a lineup comparable to the 2008 team, or the 1993 bunch, or as far back as the 1977 squad, I’d say to Charlie Manuel: “Just pencil Galvis in at 2-bag every day, hit him eighth and let the rest of the bats take care of the run producing.”

Unfortunately, this is the Phillies of 2012. This bunch lacks the thump those other teams possessed, meaning they will need offense any place they can get it. And typically, those well-hitting teams make everyone else in the lineup better hitters.

Let’s go back to 1977. The Phillies had light-hitting Ted Sizemore at second base that season—”light hitting” might be a compliment. Sizemore had 5,648 plate appearances in his career and hit just 23 home runs. However, in ’77 the Phils lineup was stacked and Sizemore, who typically hit eighth, benefited from that and hit .281 that season.

The Phils just needed Sizemore to play solid defense, which is what he did, but he was able to reap the benefits of a powerhouse lineup, too.

Galvis won’t be able to benefit from that and basically needs to be sent back down to Triple-A as soon as Chase Utley is able to play. Galvis is a career .246 hitter in the minor leagues and only had 126 plate appearances above Double-A.

The bottom line: He is not ready to do much offensively at the major league level.

Don’t read too much into the spring training numbers, as he got plenty of at-bats in March against Double- and Triple-A pitching. The Pirates were able to go right after Galvis yesterday and he hit into a couple of double plays, struck out and grounded out another time.

But the Phillies won the game…and that’s good.

I think Galvis is a terrific prospect for the Phillies and their future, but I would hate to see him get screwed up mentally by a rough “fire drill” type of promotion to start the season as the every-day second baseman, only to see him never recover.

Again, if the Phillies had plenty of bats around him, sure, keep him here to where his bat isn’t needed as much. But right now, it’s “all hands on deck” for the Phillies bats and Roy Halladay/Cliff Lee/Cole Hamels/Vance Worley/Joe Blanton can’t be expected to toss shutouts every game. Especially against the likes of Erik Bedard.

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