Prospect Notes, March 27, 2012

by John Sickels on Mar 27, 2026 4:27 PM EDT

Prospect Notes, March 27, 2026

**With Chase Utley sidelined with knee problems, the Philadelphia Phillies are turning to rookie Freddy Galvis to handle the second base job. Galvis is 22, signed out of Venezuela in 2006. A switch-hitter, he is best-known for his defense, rated as excellent at both shortstop and second base.

The question for Galvis is hitting. Although he hit .298 in 33 games in Triple-A last year, his overall track record isn't impressive (career line of .246/.292/.321). He makes decent contact, but is impatient and isn't going to provide much OBP. Galvis will show a spark of power occasionally, but does this just often enough to get himself in trouble. He's hitting .274/.294/.484 this spring (17-for-62, two walks, five strikeouts). I wouldn't expect the SLG to hold up over a full season, but the batting average and OBP are about right. Given his defense, you can do worse for a stopgap, but I don't see him as a long-term replacement for Utley should one become necessary.

**Cleveland Indians third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall has been optioned to Triple-A. He hasn't had a great spring by any means, just 8-for-39 (.205) with one walk and 16 strikeouts. The sample is small of course (every sample is small in spring training) but the BB/K ratio is quite worrisome, and given his less-than-exciting hitting last summer, this isn't exactly unexpected and it is reasonable to wonder about his future. Chisenhall's performance has never quite matched his positive reputation among scouts, and at some point the "pure hitting skills" and pretty swing need to actually produce some numbers. He's just 23 so he has time on the clock, and perhaps the demotion will get his bat going.

**The Detroit Tigers demoted right-hander Jacob Turner to Triple-A Toledo today, which is hardly a surprise given that he's been sidelined most of the spring with a sore shoulder and wasn't pitching well even before he got hurt.

How do we assess Turner's health status? This isn't supposed to be a major injury, but Turner has suffered bouts of both elbow and shoulder soreness in the past, so his current problem is not exactly out of the blue. I would expect the Tigers to be cautious, and with just three Triple-A starts under his belt, there's no real need to rush him.

**In case you missed it, Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon officially confirmed that rookie Matt Moore will be in the starting rotation despite getting roughed up a bit in his last outing way back on March 18^th.

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Read More: Chase Utley (2B - PHI), Freddy Galvis (2B - PHI), Jacob Turner (P - DET), Lonnie Chisenhall (3B - CLE), Matt Moore (P - TAM), Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays

Comments

Really Disappointed How Chisenhall Has Turned Out

Baseball America rated him as the Indians’ Top Prospect last year, and he has really struggled to establish himself at the Major League level. With success of Kipnis and Pomeranz boding good things for the Rockies this season, Chisenhall’s slow start in the Majors hasn’t been exactly comforting. What’s surprising is that he was rated as such a strong hitter by a lot of scouts, as the rest of his tools were either graded for the most part, average or below (with speed being the below average one). The fact that he isn’t hitting and has really struggled with his plate discipline not only this Spring, but last year as well, is a bit alarming. Maybe he’s pressing, or maybe he just need more at-bats, but whatever it is, his projection as a prospect is not looking good.

Triple-A won’t be a bad thing of course because he did only play 66 games in Columbus last year. However, he needs to regain some confidence because he hasn’t experienced much it seems since he’s been with the Big League club.

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by objesguy on Mar 27, 2026 11:19 PM EDT reply actions

Chisenhall = Blake DeWitt?

Somewhat random comment:

I like Chinsehall a bit more than I recall liking Blake DeWitt, and this comparison never came in my head until reading Sickels comments above, but DeWitt was another hot corner prospect viewed as having a sweet stroke, but never really having the production to match the love. Both may have been a tad rushed as well.

I’m sure if I thought about it a long time, I’d find a lot of issues with this comparison, but it was the first thought that ran through my mind.

by toonsterwu on Mar 28, 2026 1:37 AM EDT reply actions

If you just look at what Galvis did as a 21 year old in AA/AAA you would get a very different picture of the player. The big question is whether he’s getting better still at a young age or if it was an outlier season.

by Nikk.m on Mar 28, 2026 12:20 PM EDT reply actions