Phillies Pheatured Player: Shortstop Freddy Galvis
After a strong August, Freddy Galvis is one of the Phillies’ WAR leaders. Despite that, his future with the Phillies is questionable considering the young talent on his heels.
Through the first three months of the season, Freddy Galvis had little to be proud of at the plate. The Phillies shortstop posted a .232/.262/.358 hitting split through July 31. While his defensive value kept him in the starting lineup, it was usually at the bottom.
However, Galvis started slugging at the plate when August rolled around. His slugging percentage jumped from .344 in July to .527 in August. In 26 games, Galvis hit six home runs, his combined total from the three previous months.
Galvis hit his 16th home run in the Labor Day victory over the Miami Marlins. He has surpassed his career-high already this year, and some speculate Galvis could hit 20 before the season is over.
After his surge in the last month, Galvis has moved among team leaders in wins above replacement. Galvis leads Phillies’ hitters in fWAR with 1.0 in the last 30 days and is fourth with 1.5 overall this season.
As always, Galvis is a stalwart defender at shortstop. His Fangraphs defensive value of 16.3 is tied for third among all National League shortstops. In addition, Galvis’ UZR of 10.5 is the best among all Phillies.
As Galvis heats up and the season winds down, Freddy’s success only adds to the coming logjam in the middle infield. Unless you’ve been living in under a rock, you know that the Phillies possess the best shortstop prospect in baseball, J.P. Crawford.
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Galvis knows Crawford is on the way, but it hasn’t fazed him. During spring training this season, Galvis stated to Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly, “I hear his name. He’s a good player. But I’m here to play baseball and let the manager and general manager make the call. Competition is good.”
Many expected Crawford to join the big club at some point this season, but the Phillies opted to keep him in the minors all year. It makes sense, as it frees a 40-man roster spot for someone else this offseason as the team looks to protect as many players as possible from the Rule 5 Draft.
Sooner or later, the Phillies won’t be able to keep Crawford in the minors. They may start him in Triple-A next season if for nothing else then to delay his service time. But at some point, the fans will want to see Crawford in pinstripes.
Crawford’s eventual promotion to the majors will put Galvis’s future up in the air. The team could slide Galvis back over to second, which is where he started his major-league career. Pete Mackanin could also use Galvis as a utility man off the bench, as he has played nearly every position on the infield at some point in his career.
Until then, Galvis will reside in the starting shortstop role, playing stellar defense and hopefully continuing his recent hot streak.
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