Born: 1/18/91 in Santo Domingo, DR    6-2  175lbs  Throws: R Hits: R

The San Diego Padres do not have a long history of signing out-of-country talent. One of the many changes made during the tenure of John Moores and Sandy Alderson was the attention given to acquiring foreign talent for the organization. Many of the best players in major league baseball were signed out of the Latin countries and the Padres were lagging behind badly in that department. The building of the Dominican facility is meant to correct that shortcoming within the system and the Padres are beginning to see the fruit of that labor.

2B/SS Jonathon Galvez was scouted and signed by Randy Smith in 2007 and began his career, at the age of 17, in the new Padres facility in the DR. Also known as Jonathon Spraud or Spraut (many Latin players have more than one name and/or birthdate) he played in the Dominican Summer League in 2008. He was given a signing bonus of $750,000, a reflection of the talent level the Padres felt he possessed.

During the 54 games and 162 AB of the DOSL Galvez had 5 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 31 RBI and 8 SB for a .272/.449/.370 hitting line and OPS .819. For further clarification, the DOSL is akin to the Cape Cod league for the college players, except most of the players are younger. They hit with wood bats, usually their first exposure to that challenge, and play on major-league sized fields.  It is safe to say he put up good numbers in his first exposure to American style baseball.

Brought up to Arizona for the 2009 AZL Padres, Galvez played in 52 G with153 AB for 16 2B, 3 3B, 6 HR, 27 RBI and 14 SB for a hitting line of .295/.399/.503 and OPS of .902. Showing an improvement in his ability to drive the ball and improved base running skills.

His promotion to Fort Wayne in 2010 would be his first exposure to full season ball at the age of 19. In 114 G and 398 AB he had 19 2B, 3 3B, 10 HR, 49 RBI and 18 SB for a .259/.360/.397 line and .757 OPS. His K rate was 30%, which accounted for his drop in avg. But still an impressive accomplishment for someone of his age.

The scouting report for Galvez speaks of his strong wrists and forearms and line drive power. He has shown good pitch recognition and might continue to increase his power numbers as his body fills out and gets stronger. The goal of increasing his OBP should be attained as he matures and develops. As with most Latin hitters, Galvez seems eager to hit home runs and sometimes swings at pitches outside the strike zone to attain that goal. His power should come with time and he needs to work on his discipline to stay in his zone. He was a little pull happy during the 2010 season and will hopefully work on hitting to all fields during this year.

Coach Dave Roberts worked with Galvez in the minors last season and his increased base running ability is a testament to his hard work. He has very good speed and can also be a force moving runners and working counts, as well as working on bunting, to improve his value to a team.

The only issue that might slow down his progress is his defense. His soft hands and strong throwing arm rate out well for the position but he has a funky throwing motion and has still not been able to cut down on his errors at SS. He had 40 errors at SS last season in 103 games played. While short has been his primary position so far, there is still a debate about whether he is better suited to 2B. He splits those two roles with Jeudy Valdez this season and this might be the year that issue gets decided. The Padres coaches still feel he has the ability to mature into one of the two positions, if not both. And his young age (20 this year) is on his side. There is still a lot of upside to his game and we will be watching him closely to see how he develops.