Freddy Galvis

Freddy José Galvis (born November 14, 1989) is a Venezuelan professional baseball shortstop for the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos of the Mexican League.

He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

Galvis was born in Punto Fijo, Falcón, Venezuela, and played Little League Baseball including the Little League World Series there before being discovered by one of the Phillies' scouts.

At age 16, he signed a contract with the Phillies despite not receiving much attention from scouts.

He spent the next several years in their minor league system, including a particularly lengthy stint with the Phillies' Double-A (AA) affiliate the Reading Phillies.

Galvis was born November 14, 1989, in Punto Fijo, Falcón, Venezuela, and at age 14, the Philadelphia Phillies began to scout him during his days playing youth baseball.

He participated on Latin America's team in the Little League World Series, but due to his slight stature (5 ft 154 lb), struggled to captivate scouts' attention.

Galvis said, "They told me that I couldn't play (pro) baseball. But I knew I had the ability."

In 2006, scouts Sal Agostinelli and Jesus Mendez signed him during the amateur player signing period.

Galvis, 16 years old, was not a particularly heralded prospect, but did receive some attention from scouting experts before signing with the Phillies.

Galvis participated in the Florida Instructional League in 2006.

The next season, he officially began affiliated baseball in 2007 with the Williamsport Crosscutters at age 17, as one of just five players not born in the United States.

He made an impression with Phillies' personnel due to outstanding defensive skills that drew comparisons to those of Baseball Hall of Famer Omar Vizquel, and also demonstrated solid instincts while baserunning, despite struggling to get on base.

Concurrently, he hit .203 with nine stolen bases in 38 games.

In 2008, with the Lakewood BlueClaws in the South Atlantic League, Galvis hit .238 with 14 stolen bases in 127 games.

He had a particularly strong May, during which he hit .313 with 14 RBIs.

He also earned placement on the league's postseason all-star team.

He began 2009 with the Clearwater Threshers in Class A-Advanced, and was the Phillies minor league player of the week after he hit .417 from April 20 to 26.

The following May, he fractured his right ring finger, and spent more than two months on the disabled list.

Thereafter, he spent seven games with the GCL Phillies before finishing the season at Double-A, where he hit just .197.

Galvis returned to Reading for his 2010 season after earning an invitation to the Phillies' major league spring training.

He led all shortstops in the Eastern League in fielding percentage, assists, putouts, and total chances.

He was named an Eastern League all-star.

After the season, he played for Navegantes del Magallanes in the Venezuelan Winter League.

Entering 2011, he was "considered major-league-ready defensively but a major liability offensively."

But in 2011, at age 21, Galvis had the best season of his career to date.

Always known as an excellent defender, but mediocre hitter, he was finally able to improve at the plate, thanks in part to a much more rigorous off-season conditioning regimen, and also due to hitting higher in the batting order, where he was thus challenged to make greater offensive contributions by utilizing a more aggressive approach.

He also improved his arm strength to the point that at least defensively, coaches and front office personnel felt he was ready to be a major league shortstop.

Starting the year in Double-A (AA) with the Reading Phillies, Galvis hit .273, with 35 RBIs, in 464 plate appearances across 104 games.

In August, Galvis was promoted to the Triple-A (AAA) Lehigh Valley IronPigs, with whom he hit .321 with nine multi-hit games and 13 runs scored in his first 23 games.

He hit in the leadoff spot with Lehigh Valley as well.

Overall with Lehigh Valley, he hit .298, with eight RBIs in 126 plate appearances during 33 games.

He made his major league debut on Opening Day of 2012 at second base, substituting for the injured Chase Utley.

He became a fan favorite for his performance early in the season, especially defensively, until he sustained an injury and subsequently was suspended for 50 games after a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs.

He missed the remainder of the season.

Over the course of the next two seasons, he split time between the Lehigh Valley IronPigs – the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate – and the major league ball club, but struggled to establish himself offensively.

Beginning in 2015, Galvis spent three seasons as the Phillies' starting shortstop.

In 2016, 2017, and 2018, he led National League shortstops in fielding percentage, and was twice nominated for a Gold Glove Award.

In December 2017 he was traded to the San Diego Padres, becoming their starting shortstop in 2018.

He spent the first five months of the 2019 season with the Toronto Blue Jays before being claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Reds in August.