Giovanny Gallegos
The native of Mexico opened the 2016 season in Double-A Trenton coming off a year in which he commanded High-A Tampa (1.86 in 30 games) in his first go around as a full-time reliever.
Even with the improved opposition, he did not miss a single beat.
In 17 appearances, Gallegos surrendered just four runs in 33 innings of work (1.09 ERA) while striking out 14.5 batters per nine innings and surrendered just 20 hits among the 124 batters faced (.171 BAA).
The righty then earned a promotion to the Electric City of Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre where he picked up right where he left off as he did following his call-up to Trenton.
Batters at the Triple-A level hit a mere .178 off Gallegos while he struck out 53 batters in 33 innings and recorded two saves — including the final out of the Governors’ Cup.
Interestingly enough, Gallegos maintained a 0.45 ERA vs left-handed batters — a very rare statistic for a right-hander — and finished his season astonishingly strong with a 0.59 WHIP after the All-Star break.
He’s not even a top-30 prospect in the organization but managed to stick himself onto the 40-man roster and has given himself a genuine opportunity to get a well-deserved ride on the Scranton Shuttle in 2017.
Gallegos did have Tommy John surgery early in his professional career, but has seemingly put that behind him not only with results but an increase from 91 m.p.h. to as high as 95 m.p.h. on his fastball velocity.
He also contains three off-speed pitches in his arsenal which incorporates a slider that sits in the high-70’s, a curveball and changeup.
One of the major facets of his game that makes him engaging is the reality that he’s a reliever that doesn’t rely on two pitches and finds ways to get you out.
