with the Phillies. Professional career Minor league career Galvis participated in the Florida Instructional League in 2006. The next season, he officially began affiliated baseball in 2007 with the Williamsport Crosscutters at age 17, as one of just five players not born in the United States. He made an impression with Phillies' personnel due to outstanding defensive skills that drew comparisons to those of Baseball Hall of Famer Omar Vizquel, and also demonstrated solid instincts while baserunning, despite struggling to get on base. Concurrently, he hit .203 with nine stolen bases in 38 games. In 2008, with the Lakewood BlueClaws in the South Atlantic League, Galvis hit .238 with 14 stolen bases in 127 games. He had a particularly strong May, during which he hit .313 with 14 RBIs. He also earned placement on the league's postseason all-star team. He began 2009 with the Clearwater Threshers in Class A-Advanced, and was the Phillies minor league player of the week after he hit .417 from April 20 to 26. The following May, he fractured his right ring finger, and spent more than two months on the disabled list. Thereafter, he spent seven games with the GCL Phillies before finishing the season at Double-A, where he hit just .197. Galvis returned to Reading for his 2010 season after earning an invitation to the Phillies' major league spring training. He led all shortstops in the Eastern League in fielding percentage, assists, putouts, and total chances. He was named an Eastern League all-star. After the season, he played for Navegantes del Magallanes in the Venezuelan Winter League. Entering 2011, he was "considered major-league-ready defensively but a major liability offensively." But in 2011, at age 21, Galvis had the best season of his career to date. Always known as an excellent defender, but mediocre hitter, he was finally able to improve at the plate, thanks in part to a much more rigorous off-season conditioning regimen, and also due to hitting higher in the batting order, where he was thus challenged to make greater offensive contributions by utilizing a more aggressive approach. He also improved his arm strength to the point that at least defensively, coaches and front office personnel felt he was ready to be a major league shortstop. Starting the year in Double-A (AA) with the Reading Phillies, Galvis hit .273, with 35 RBIs, in 464 plate appearances across 104 games. In August, Galvis