Summer School In Session For Storm’s Jonathon Galvez

Any baseball scout will tell you that flat-out speed can’t be taught.

No one, however, will say that about defense.

So for Jonathon Galvez, the Lake Elsinore Storm speedster, school is in. 

At 20, Galvez is the second-youngest on the Storm roster. He boasts sizzling speed on the basepaths, a strong bat – and he is just getting started in the San Diego Padres’ organization.

As of Wednesday, the Lake Elsinore Storm second baseman is hitting .300 in 88 games with 27 stolen bases out of 31 attempts – sixth in the California League, first among infielders and second on the Storm – along with 55 runs batted in (also second on the team, after you take away recently called-up Jedd Gyorko’s stats), a team-high five triples to go with eight home runs and 24 doubles. Galvez normally hits fifth or sixth in the batting order.

Not bad for someone who is the second-youngest player on the Lake Elsinore roster. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound infielder was born on Jan. 18, 1991, while fellow speedster and center fielder Reymond Fuentes (35 steals as of Tuesday) was born on Feb. 12, 1991.

“Hitting is my first talent,” Galvez said. “It’s natural to hit the ball.”

This season, Galvez has proven he’s capable of catching fire at the plate, having hit .380 in June. So far, he’s hit .326 and has six steals in the second half, as Lake Elsinore is in first place in the South Division at 16-9. He’s also pretty clutch, hitting .323 with runners in scoring position and .310 with runners on base.

Galvez has already improved his speed in the stolen base category. Last season, in 114 games playing with the Fort Wayne TinCaps, Galvez stole 18 bases. He hit .259 (with a .360 on-base percentage), with 10 homers and 49 RBIs.

“Last year, in two months during the offseason, I improved my speed,” Galvez said. “I did drills in the offseason. I put some weights down on me and did different drills. I’m working on how to read left-handers’ moves better.”

Back to that defense: As his 19 errors have him tied for the team lead with shortstop Jeudy Valdez, middle infielders sometimes tend to have a higher number of errors – as the majority of balls are hit to them. Your average single-A infielder is still learning how to handle harder hit ground balls as they play professional baseball, especially at Galvez’s young age.

Still, Galvez said he knows the errors have to be reduced if he is to improve and get promoted to Double-A or beyond. Last season at Fort Wayne, he committed 40 errors at second and shortstop, so he is getting better. Galvez said most of his errors this season were throws high and away to first base.

“I’m working with my throw,” Galvez said. “I’m trying to be more accurate. There is a different angle from short versus second. I’m working to get better. The game is about adjustments. I’m focused on my defense.”

Galvez, who signed for a $300,000 signing bonus at the ripe age of 16, began his career in the Dominican Summer League, regarded as being similar to the Cape Cod League because it’s the first exposure to wood bats for young pros.

“I signed on July 2 (2007),” Galvez said. “It was a little exciting for my family. Everybody was happy, they didn’t know I was going to play professional baseball.”

He was successful right off the bat, hitting .272 in 162 at-bats in 54 games. The next season, in 2009, he hit .295 in the Arizona Fall League in 52 games.

“The first game, I was a little excited,” Galvez said. “Everything was normal after that. I was experiencing being in a new country for the first time. I wasn’t scared, it was good. Speaking English was the biggest obstacle, it was a little hard for me. But I picked it up after about one year.”