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Galvis' glove may prove more valuable than bat

PITTSBURGH - Walking through the visitor's clubhouse at PNC Park, Freddy Galvis spotted Juan Samuel and broke out into a big smile as he playfully chided the third-base coach. Before long, both men were puffing their cheeks and blowing out air in a mock attempt at keeping an invisible baseball from trickling into foul territory. It had been that kind of day at the plate for Galvis, who grounded into a doubleplay in his first two at-bats, struck out in his last, and in between watched a bunt attempt hug the third-base line before nudging its way across the chalk. But even an 0-for-4 showing in his first game as a major leaguer could not dampen the sprits of the 22-year-old infielder.

"The first inning, I was nervous," Freddy Galvis said about Opening Day. "After that, I felt good." (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
"The first inning, I was nervous," Freddy Galvis said about Opening Day. "After that, I felt good." (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

PITTSBURGH - Walking through the visitor's clubhouse at PNC Park, Freddy Galvis spotted Juan Samuel and broke out into a big smile as he playfully chided the third-base coach. Before long, both men were puffing their cheeks and blowing out air in a mock attempt at keeping an invisible baseball from trickling into foul territory. It had been that kind of day at the plate for Galvis, who grounded into a doubleplay in his first two at-bats, struck out in his last, and in between watched a bunt attempt hug the third-base line before nudging its way across the chalk. But even an 0-for-4 showing in his first game as a major leaguer could not dampen the sprits of the 22-year-old infielder.

In the wake of the Phillies' season-opening victory over the Pirates on Thursday afternoon, you got the sense the decision- makers who elected to make Galvis their starting second baseman were smiling, too. While the rookie did not contribute any runs, he helped prevent at least one, teaming with Jimmy Rollins to turn a nifty doubleplay in the first inning, helping Roy Halladay escape from a two-on, no-out jam. The play would prove pivotal in a shutout win in which the Phillies scratched out only one run.

"The first inning, I was nervous," Galvis said. "After that, I felt good."

While the Phillies cannot live on 1-0 victories alone, they also do not play by the same rules as the rest of the league. Most days, a team will need to score at least four runs to win. But with Halladay, Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee starting three of every 5 days last season, the Phillies held opponents to two or fewer runs in 70 of 162 games. So when they learned Chase Utley would miss the start of the season with knee trouble, they made a calculated decision to err on the side of preventing runs. After all, as the quality of a pitcher increases, so too does the value of a run to an opposing offense, as well as the value of preventing that run to an opposing defense.

In the National League last year, the two most "important" runs were the second and third runs. Teams that scored one run in a game won about 10 percent of the time. But teams that scored two runs won about 26 percent, and teams that scored three runs won about 41 percent. In other words, preventing a second run increased a team's odds of winning by about 16 percentage points, and preventing a third run increased them by about another 15 percentage points. No other runs - from 3 to 4, 4 to 5, 5 to 6, and so on - had as much impact on winning percentage as those two. Considering that the Phillies had three pitchers whose ERAs sat between 2 and 3 in 2011, you can argue that a run prevented by defense or a run allowed by defense had more impact on them than any other team in the majors.

Take Thursday's win over the Pirates, for example. The Phillies might have been able to find an offensive upgrade over Galvis at second base, but there is little chance he would have been a hitter with the talent of a Rollins, Shane Victorino, Hunter Pence or Placido Polanco. And against a tough lefty in Erik Bedard, those four players combined to go 1-for-10 with one walk; for the game, they were 1-for-14, with a pair of walks. But while a hitter's success is heavily dependent on the pitcher he is facing, a fielder's situation is less variable. As long as Galvis' glove work jibed with the Phillies' expectations, the argument for having him in the lineup was a logical one. One look at the smooth pivot-and-throw he used to get Andrew McCutchen by a half step in the first inning and you saw the reason for all the fuss.

"When I got to the field I just looked around, saw the field and enjoyed myself," Galvis said. "I've been working for that. I enjoyed it."

In a perfect world, a manager would enjoy having both a glove and a bat at second base. Then again, in a perfect world, every manager would just walk outside and shake the trunk of his Utley tree until another second baseman dropped to the ground.

Contact David Murphy at dmurphy@phillynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @HighCheese. For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read his blog, High Cheese, at www.philly.com/HighCheese.