Giovanny Gallegos
Giovanny Gallegos
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 2", Weight 210 lb.
- Born August 14, 1991 in Obregon, Sonora Mexico
Biographical Information[edit]
Pitcher Giovanny Gallegos began his professional career in 2012 and reached the major leagues in 2017.
He was signed by the New York Yankees as an international free agent on January 6, 2011. With the GCL Yankees in 2012, he went 0-1 with a 1.67 ERA in 12 games (four starts) and followed that with a 2-8, 4.27 line in 16 starts for the Staten Island Yankees in 2013 (in between, he allowed five runs in 5 1/3 IP for his hometown Yaquis de Obregón in the Mexican Pacific League). With the 2013-2014 Yaquis, he was 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA. With the Charleston RiverDogs in 2014, Gallegos went 5-5 with a 4.57 ERA in 88 2/3 innings, striking out 91 batters. He was 1-1 with a 1.69 ERA that winter. He began 2015 with the Tampa Yankees and did very well (3-1, 5 Sv, 1.35 in 30 G), earning promotion to the Trenton Thunder (5.40 in 3 G) and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (0 R in 3 IP). He struggled with the Yaquis in the winter (1-2, 11 R in 9 IP).
He was on the Mexican national team in the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. In his lone outing, he relieved Stephen Landazuri with a 9-0 lead in the 5th against Nicaragua. He struck out Douglas Morales, allowed a single to Janior Montes, got Dwight Britton to hit into a force and whiffed Elmer Reyes. In the 6th, he was relieved by Andrés Ávila. Mexico would cruise their pool to win a spot in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Gallegos followed with a great summer between Trenton (2-1, 2 Sv, 1.09 in 17 G) and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (5-1, 2 Sv, 1.40 in 25 G). He allowed a .175 average on the year and whiffed 106 while walking only 17 in 78 IP; his WHIP was .83. He saved Jordan Montgomery's win over the El Paso Diablos in the Triple-A National Championship.
Gallegos pitched briefly for the Yankees in both 2017 and 2018. The first year, he went 0-1, 4.87 in 16 appearances as a reliever, and the second had no decisions and an ERA of 4.50 in 4 games. On July 29th, he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals along with Chasen Shreve in return for 1B Luke Voit. He then stayed with the Cardinals for eight seasons and appeared in a total of 291 games for them, all in relief. His two best seasons were in 2021 and 2022, when he saved 14 games both years, finishing at 6-5, 3.02 in 73 games in 2021, and 3-6, 3.05 in 57 games in 2022. Most of his time in St. Louis, however, he was a middle reliever or set-up man, and he was effective in both roles. In 2019, he went 3-2, 2.31 in 66 games with 93 strikeouts in 74 innings. Things began to unravel for him in 2023, when he fell to 2-4, 4.42 with 10 saves in 56 games, then in 2024 he struggled badly as Ryan Helsley had a great year as the Redbirds' closer. Giovanny saw his ERA climb to 6.53 in 21 games and 20 2/3 innings.
He pitched in the postseason every year from 2019 to 2022, going 1-0, 2.79 in 10 games, with 12 strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings. The Cards won only one series during that span - they defeated the Atlanta Braves in the Division Series in 2019 - and his lone win came in a series they lost. He won Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the San Diego Padres on September 30, 2020 with 1 1/3 inning of scoreless ball in a 7-6 win. His next appearance the next day in Game 2 was disastrous, however. He came into the game in the 6th inning in relief of Ryan Helsley with two on, one out and the Cardinals holding a 6-2 lead, but quickly managed to give up homers to Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado to tie the score, and the Padres went on to win the wild game, 11-9.
He was released by the Cardinals on August 2, 2024. He then signed with the Minnesota Twins, but did not pitch in the majors for them, and following the season, he signed a minor league free agent contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He played for the Mexican national team in the World Baseball Classic in 2017 and 2023.
Further Reading[edit]
- Manny Randhawa: "Former Cards closer Gallegos headed to Dodgers on Minors deal", mlb.com, November 23, 2024. [1]
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