Brian Cavazos-Galvez

Brian Pablo Cavazos-Galvez

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 225 lb.

• School University of New Mexico, New Mexico Junior College
• High School Manzano High School

• Born May 17, 1987 in Albuquerque, NM USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Brian Cavazos-Galvez won a minor league MVP award. His father Balvino Galvez played in the majors but they lost contact when Brian was 8-10 years old, when Balvino was playing in Taiwan and Japan. While the elder Galvez returned to the US for a time, he did not re-establish contact with his son.

Amateur Career

Cavazos-Galvez was the Louisville Slugger High School Player of the Year for New Mexico in 2005. In junior college, he hit .517 with 9 HR, 66 RBI and a .879 slugging percentage in 2006. He fell a bit to .480 with a .756 slugging in 2007, driving in 87. He helped New Mexico Junior College make it to second place in the Junior College World Series. Transferring to UNM, he hit .367/.394/.633 with 11 HR, 51 runs and 55 RBI in 54 games in 2008. He was second in the Mountain West Conference in slugging (behind Xavier Scruggs), tied for third in RBI, tied for 4th in home runs and 6th in slugging. He made All-MWC in the outfield. In the Northwoods League that summer, he hit .360 and slugged .566. Cavazos-Galvez had another fine season in 2009, producing at a .392/.439/.737 clip with 7 triples, 15 dingers, 17 steals (in 20 tries), 64 runs and 63 RBI in 54 games. He was among the MWC leaders in slugging (1st), OPS (2nd), total bases (160, 1st), hits (85, tied for 4th), runs (tied for 2nd), triples (tied for 3rd), homers (tied for 2nd), RBI (2nd) and steals (tied for 4th). He again was All-Conference, joining Cory Vaughn and J.J. Sferra in the outfield.

Minor League Career

Cavazos-Galvez was picked in the 12th round of the 2009 amateur draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Calvin Jones was the scout. He had a stellar pro debut for the Ogden Raptors, hitting .322/.353/.618 with 59 runs, 29 doubles, 18 home runs, 63 RBI and 17 steals (8 caught stealing) in 71 games. He also had 9 outfield assists. He led the Pioneer League in hits (97, one more than Paul Goldschmidt), doubles (2 more than Goldschmidt), extra-base hits (50), total bases (186, 3 ahead of Goldschmidt) and runs (2 ahead of Brian Ruggiano), tied Goldschmidt for the most home runs and was second in RBI (5 behind Bobby Stone). He also tied for 7th in steals, was 6th in average, was 5th in OPS and was second in slugging (20 points behind Goldschmidt). He joined Hilton Richardson and Jerry Sands as the All-Star outfielders in the Pioneer League. He also won MVP honors.

The New Mexico native remained productive with the 2010 Great Lakes Loons, hitting .318/.343/.520 with 43 doubles, 16 home runs, 43 steals (in 56 tries) 76 runs and 77 RBI. The big drawback was only 12 walks in 121 games. He led in the Midwest League in average, tied Nathan Freiman for the most doubles, was third in hits (156), was 5th in steals, tied for 10th in dingers and was second in slugging (21 points shy of Matt Adams). He also set a Loons record with a 24-game hitting streak in July. He joined Blake Smith, Mike Trout and Khris Davis as the MWL All-Star outfielders. Trout won MVP honors, depriving Cavazos-Galvez of a second straight MVP season.

In 2011, Cavazos-Galvez's production fell with the AA Chattanooga Lookouts. He hit .277/.311/.470 with 27 doubles, 14 home runs, 60 runs and 61 RBI. He was only 13-for-24 in steals and again drew very few walks (12). He rotated between the outfield and first base. He was 12th in the Southern League in slugging, between Christian Marrero and Cody Puckett.

Away from the diamond, Brian volunteers with Little League and the Special Olympics.

Notable Achievements

• 2009 MVP Pioneer League Ogden Raptors

Sources

• 2012 Dodgers Media Guide
• UNM bio
• The Baseball Cube
• The Saginaw News