Phillies Must See What They Have in Freddy Galvis

The Phillies have scored just eight runs on 26 hits over their first four games, losing to the Marlins and Pirates twice to drop to 1-3 this season.

Perhaps just as surprising as those totals themselves were some of the players that produced them.

Freddy Galvis, playing second base in place of Chase Utley, went 1-for-3 with a RBI double. With Utley out indefinitely, Galvis has taken over at second base and the Phillies need to see what he can do.  He is one of the few young position players the Phillies have in the system that are anywhere near ready to play at the big league level.

Trades have ravaged the minor league system, gone are guys like Jason Donald, Lou Marson, Michael Taylor, Johnathan Singleton and others that have been traded away over the past five years.

With only so much playing time to go around if and when Utley  returns, the Phillies should get a good look at Galvis to determine whether he has a long-term future with the team.

The Phillies bats surely haven't given us a show thus far, but one guy worth watching is Galvis.  He could be the future or he could be the one young player that can gain attention around the trade deadline.

Sure the Phillies have World Series hopes, but Galvis might be the one position player in the system that  can get back a decent price in a deal - not a bad problem to have.  The hope is he plays well enough that you don't want to trade him and he becomes your next great young position player.

Wouldn't be the worst problem to have, to many guys for not enough spots.  If Galvis can actually play, what happens when Utley is ready to come back?  Do they think about dealing Utley or Jimmy Rollins to make way for the 22-year old Galvis?

I know it seems crazy to say that about a kid who started off 0-for-11 at the plate, and finally got his first hit four games into the season, but it's no secret that the Phillies need to get younger in the field and soon.  Galvis is part of the future, he is a young player with a boat-load of talent both at the plate and in the field and you want to get him as many at-bats as possible.

What do you do when Utley returns and Galvis has proven he can play (I know it sounds silly now, but I am trying to be optimistic here), you call around and see if there is a team in a pennant race that wants and needs Utley - you simply can't depend on him anymore.

I want to see if Galvis can play and if he can, don't mess with him like you have with Dom Brown, let the kid play.  This team can use all the fresh, young talent it can get.

If he can play, I want to make sure Galvis is a major part of what the Phillies are doing because I think he has the opportunity to be either major trade bait or a big part of the Phillies future.  The Phillies need to find out if Galvis can handle the bat at the major league level and play second base (he was a shortstop in the minors) everyday.

So right now, Galvis is a guy who I want to see play everyday.

After him, John Mayberry Jr. should be playing first base everyday until Howard gets back with Juan Pierre getting most of the time in left field.  This line-up needs consistency, you can't start four different first basemen the first four games of the season.

Hit Pierre lead-off and see if he can catch a little lightning-in-a-bottle.  Use Placido Polanco in the two-hole and Rollins at number three.  Hunter Pence is four, followed by Shane Victorino at five.  Mayberry gets first crack at six and Carlos Ruiz hits seven, leaving Galvis hitting eighth.

Roll that line-up out there for at least two weeks and see what happens.  If it struggles, then give Laynce Nix a start here, and Ty Wigginton a play there.  However, right now, this is a mess playing different guys in different spots everyday of the week.

Nix is probably the last guy who needs to play out of the above mentioned group.  See if Pierre gives the line-up a spark and use Nix as a late inning defensive replacement.  Mayberry can hold down first base and if you have a tough right-hander late in a game, you can use Thome to hit for him and Wigginton can play the field.

Charlie Manuel has options, but he needs to stop using them so freely.  Settle into a line-up, allow these guys to get into a groove and then see what needs to be tinkered with.

However, the one guy you can't touch is Galvis, he might be the only guy with any value on this team right now and that means a lot on a team that needs all the help offensively it can get.