Galvis has a routine that will hold up
In the dreads match, Freddy Galvis likely has Vlad Guerrero Jr. beaten by a braid. Or six.
The shortstop tends to tuck a fistful of the bouncing tassels, sometimes elaborately clasped, up inside his baseball cap. (He gets them re-plaited every six weeks, in case you were wondering.)
Stylish hair is a feature of the new-age, youth-skewed Blue Jays clubhouse. And it could be the most tress-splendiferous infield in Major League Baseball, this Toronto bunch, Guerrero at the hot corner — eventually — Lourdes Gurriel Jr., with his pineapple fronds, at second and Galvis betwixt the two. A Dominican, a Cuban and a Venezuelan.
Only the Venezuelan has a solid track record in the big leagues. Only the Venezuelan is a defence-first specialist.
Gurriel started 40 games at shortstop in 2018 and 22 at second. While he was a marquee signing, the 25-year-old Cuban expat has yet to prove he can start for a full year at this level. His 11-game streak with multiple hits — the longest by a rookie — was historic, his .446 slugging percentage particularly promising. But the occasionally puzzling footwork at short was headscratching and a knee injury in August and hamstring troubles in September suggested his body might have been overwhelmed by the rigours of a long season.
The Jays had a left-side infield plan coming into 2019: Galvis, signed to a one-year deal in January (with a club option for 2020), would be the shortstop presumptive, with a best-case scenario of ceding to Gurriel as the season progressed, much of that forecast predicated on how well Gurriel will hit.
Gurriel didn’t look particularly befuddled by major-league pitching last year, even figuring out the breaking stuff as the months passed. A little job rivalry never hurts. Specs interruptus with the knee inflammation that has sidelined Devon Travis. The reconfiguration has shunted Gurriel to second and solidified Galvis’s hold at short. Galvis, who hit his first spring homer in a split-squad win over Pittsburgh in Dunedin, appears to be a fortuitous insurance acquisition. Not that Galvis necessarily sees it that way.
“We had something in mind when I came here and that’s the same. I can’t lie to you. I think I’m going to have the same amount of playing time. Just like we’d talked about before I signed.”
Except Gurriel is otherwise occupied, and who knows how long snake-bit Travis will be rehabbing that hinge.
In Galvis, the Jays have a sturdy defensive shortstop, not so outwardly showy as the departed Troy Tulowitzki but steady on his feet and assured on the double-play pivot, certainly an upgrade from the equally departed Aledmys Diaz, traded to Houston for right-hander Trent Thornton earlier in the off-season.
Shortstops may have enjoyed their best year ever offensively in 2018, across baseball, but manager Charlie Montoyo isn’t looking for a high average from that position; the Jays could have Galvis hitting anywhere from second to ninth in the batting order, he says, to exploit his switch-hitting asset. Galvis is coming off his best season at the plate, with a slash line of .248/.299/.380, and showed some pop with 13 home runs and 31 doubles among his 149 hits.
It’s the defence that’s the thing, though.
“I’d rather have a shortstop that can pick it and make very play. Galvy’s one of them. That’s why we have him here. I’m old-school when it comes to that — a routine play, make it. I enjoy defence so I love watching (Galvis) make every throw to first base, chest-high.”
Galvis, over seven majorleague seasons, has played third, short, second and left field, so he’s versatile. It’s at short, however, that he’s assembled a highlight-reel compendium.
With San Diego last season, he posted a 2.3 WAR and 1.2 dWAR. While defensive analytics are dubious, those numbers would have made him a metrics leader in that category on a club that repeatedly shot itself in the foot with standard defensive plays not made and hideous errors contributing to costly runs.
The Venezuelan who grew up in a small town — mom was a school teacher, dad worked for an oil company and coached baseball — idolized Omar Vizquel as a youngster and has tried to model himself on his compatriot.
He points to Robinson Chirinos, now catching for Houston, as exemplifying Venezuelan qualities. “We try to do every- thing the right way because we know everybody back home is watching us.”
Galvis describes his own style thusly: “I just try to make routine plays. Almost every time I have a groundball, to me, I think pitchers work really hard to get grounders and to get outs. My work and my style are just to get outs. I try to keep it simple. Just don’t overdo.”
In Philadelphia, prior to his single season with the Padres, Galvis was revered for his clubhouse presence and leadership qualities. Those are attributes that made Galvis attractive to the Jays, with a heavy presence of young Latinos in the clubhouse. On the field, Galvis, Guerrero and Gurriel chatter incessantly in Spanish.
“That’s how we stay mentally in the game,” he explains. “With Vladdy, talking makes it easier for him, I think. He’s a young kid with a ton of talent, so we talk about stuff, how to approach the game, on both sides.” He pauses, smiles. “Well, not too much on the offensive side. He doesn’t need my help with that. But on defence, we have good conversations.”
Galvis has also been just about unbreakable since he broke into the bigs. The durable dimpled 29-year-old played in every game over the past two seasons, and missed only 15 games in the two seasons before that.
“I get used to playing with some kind of pain in my body,” says Galvis. “I’ll know when I have to stop.”
His mini-Ironman record is doomed, though. Galvis was squared away with that when he signed.
“Charlie (Montoyo) told me the organization believes players have to rest. So, when I came here, I said yes, if I have to take a day off, I will.” Though he’d rather not. “I know baseball is a short career. Maybe in two years or five years, I’ll be out of the game at this level. So I try to take every opportunity to stay on the field and play the game that I love.”