Freddy Galvis

It was 4:47 p.m. Sunday when a beaming Charlie Manuel sauntered into his team's clubhouse. He found Freddy Galvis, shook the diminutive hero's hand, and disappeared to pack for an eight-game road trip. As Galvis described his elation upon hitting an unbelievable home run that sealed a 3-2 Phillies victory to a throng of reporters, Kevin Frandsen jumped up and down to make Galvis laugh. A few lockers away, Carlos Ruiz struggled to pull green shorts over his wrapped right leg. Across the room, Ryan Howard dismissed the notion that a left knee injury that apparently has afflicted him since spring training was serious.

Playing at: Lehigh Valley (AAA) Position: Shortstop. Age: 21. Born: Nov. 14, 1989, in Punto Fijo, Falcon, Venezuela. Height: 5-10. Weight: 170. Bats: Both. Throws: Right. How acquired: Signed as a non-drafted free agent, July 2, 2006. This season: Started in Reading and moved up to Lehigh Valley on Aug. 2. Galvis is hitting .318 in 19 games at Triple A heading into last night . . . Was hitting .273 with a career-high eight homers in 422 at-bats in Reading . . . Generally batting at the bottom of the order for Lehigh Valley, where his 21 hits include 18 singles, two doubles and a triple.

MIAMI - Two batters after Laynce Nix launched a go-ahead home run that would send Roy Halladay and the Phillies to a 2-1 victory Sunday over the Marlins, the celebration was delayed for what looked like a serious injury. Freddy Galvis was hit with a pitch by 6-11 Miami reliever Jon Rauch. The ball came in high and hard on Galvis, hitting him in the right hand. After a brief delay, Galvis stayed in the game and felt good enough to shake hands when the final out was recorded in Halladay's 200th career win. "It's good," Galvis said of his hand.

WHEN YOU are scuffling, there is no such thing as a little mistake. Domonic Brown's sixth-inning throw to first is misplayed into an eventual unearned run . . . Cliff Lee's ninth-inning baserunning gaffe gives dominant Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman a two-out save opportunity . . . and there you are again yesterday, tortured, angered, ready to swear off the local nine for maybe the 10th time just in the last month. Why didn't Charlie Manuel use an everyday player to run instead of a pitcher?

The Phillies played their ninth game of the season Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park, and infielder Freddy Galvis has started none of them. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. admitted that it is a concern that needs to be addressed. "Sometime soon - probably," the general manager said. "We kind of take it day by day. " Galvis has made three pinch-hitting appearances and is hitless with a strikeout. He flied out in the eighth inning Wednesday. Manager Charlie Manuel still believes the young infielder will benefit most by being on the big-league roster.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Charlie Manuel put Freddy Galvis in rightfield during a game on Saturday in Sarasota. On Tuesday, Galvis started in leftfield. Galvis had never played an inning in the outfield, ever. The assumption was that Galvis has been so good defensively everywhere the Phillies have tried him, why not try him in the outfield, too? But perhaps Manuel was trying to find a place for Galvis' bat, too. Galvis hit a two-run home run off Tampa Bay's Roberto Hernandez to lead the Phils to a 10-1 win on Tuesday.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Sal Agostinelli stood just outside the Phillies' clubhouse at Bright House Field on Tuesday morning and shouted in Spanish at Freddy Galvis as the 23-year-old Venezuelan shagged fly balls in left field. The translation: "I told him that 'I thought I signed you to be a shortstop,' " said Agostinelli, the Phillies' director of international scouting. Galvis continued to expand his positional resumé by starting in left field for the Phillies 10-1 Grapefruit League win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Phillies shortstop prospect Freddy Galvis was removed from the lineup of his Venezuelan baseball team on Tuesday and has missed two games because of soreness in his right wrist, according to a Venezuelan news report. A representative for Galvis' agent confirmed that he saw a doctor on Tuesday afternoon for the wrist. Galvis did not play in Wednesday night's game. Gerardo Boscan, the sports editor of Mi Diario newspaper in Maracaibo, Venezuela, reported Wednesday morning via Twitter that Galvis was removed from the lineup for discomfort in his right wrist.

MIAMI - A clubhouse attendant stuck out his right hand and Freddy Galvis shook it. He fist-bumped another with his right hand. Less than hour before, an 89-m.p.h. Jon Rauch fastball struck his right knuckle. "It's good," Galvis said. The Phillies were pleased with that because Galvis contributed about as productive a two days as possible. After much inactivity, he made his first starts on Saturday and Sunday against the Miami Marlins. He reached base five times in eight plate appearances.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Reaction from most corners of the baseball universe was all gloom and doom. "[The] Phils are no longer the N.L. East favorite," a National League scout said soon after hearing the news Monday morning that Phillies second baseman Chase Utley is now listed as doubtful for the start of the 2012 season. Go read the comments on philly.com and you'll get the sense that this Phillies season is over even though it has yet to begin. There is, of course, another angle from which to view this developing story.

The Phillies' prospects didn't look so bright. Having been in a serious offensive drought, they entered the ninth inning of Sunday's series finale with the Cincinnati Reds trailing by 2-1. And they had to face reliever Aroldis Chapman, a pitcher they were 3 for 21 against with zero runs scored, all-time. Manager Charlie Manuel contemplated pinch-hitting for Freddy Galvis, the man who hit a home run to win it. None of it made much sense. A team that had scored one run in its previous 17 innings blasted consecutive home runs by Erik Kratz and Galvis off the flame-throwing Chapman in the ninth to stun the Reds, 3-2, at Citizens Bank Park.

It was 4:47 p.m. Sunday when a beaming Charlie Manuel sauntered into his team's clubhouse. He found Freddy Galvis, shook the diminutive hero's hand, and disappeared to pack for an eight-game road trip. As Galvis described his elation upon hitting an unbelievable home run that sealed a 3-2 Phillies victory to a throng of reporters, Kevin Frandsen jumped up and down to make Galvis laugh. A few lockers away, Carlos Ruiz struggled to pull green shorts over his wrapped right leg. Across the room, Ryan Howard dismissed the notion that a left knee injury that apparently has afflicted him since spring training was serious.

WHEN YOU are scuffling, there is no such thing as a little mistake. Domonic Brown's sixth-inning throw to first is misplayed into an eventual unearned run . . . Cliff Lee's ninth-inning baserunning gaffe gives dominant Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman a two-out save opportunity . . . and there you are again yesterday, tortured, angered, ready to swear off the local nine for maybe the 10th time just in the last month. Why didn't Charlie Manuel use an everyday player to run instead of a pitcher?

Today on PhillyDailyNews.com: Check out David Maialetti's photo slideshow from yesterday's come-from-behind win. THE MADNESS unfolded as Jonathan Pettibone sat in a chair in the Phillies' clubhouse, his right arm wrapped in ice after another impressive outing. The rookie who pitched the first seven innings against the Reds had just watched Freddy Galvis foul off a 1-0 pitch in the ninth when he felt the crowd roar. "There was a delay" on the television in the clubhouse, Pettibone said, "so you could hear the screaming.

MIAMI - Cole Hamels grabbed his things and began to walk out of the clubhouse at a brisk pace. Then he turned around, went back to his locker to retrieve something, but again left the room without taking part in the standard practice of talking to the media after a start. It was difficult to blame Hamels. There really wasn't a whole lot he could say after showcasing what his pitching coach called "electric" stuff, yet not having a whole lot to show for it in the latest Phillies loss with him on the mound.

Even though the Phillies were off on Monday and have another day off on Thursday, manager Charlie Manuel decided not to start second baseman Chase Utley against the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park. Utley's replacement, Kevin Frandsen, hit a solo home run in the first inning. Because of his chronically injured knees, Utley played in a total of 186 games over the previous two seasons. This year he had appeared in each of the Phils' first 39 games, making 37 starts.

ALLENTOWN - Whether it's at this year's trade deadline or after the season, one of the most difficult decisions in franchise history is going to have to be made in the not-too-distant future. Chase Utley: stay or go? Much of that decision will be influenced by the play of the team and the play of the veteran second baseman who so far has been solid offensively and shaky at times defensively. Some of the decision will also be influenced by the play of Cesar Hernandez, the 22-year-old second baseman at triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Somebody has to lose to the Miami Marlins. Even if you play 162 games with a single-A lineup in the big leagues, you're bound to win a few of them. The Marlins did not test that exact theory Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park, but they did beat the Phillies, 2-0, behind a lineup that is being paid just over $6 million this season. Lefthander Cole Hamels, who will be paid $19.5 million, took the loss, slipping to 1-4 in seven starts. The man who accounted for the Marlins' winning run with his first big-league home run, leading off the second inning, was Marcell Ozuna, a 22-year-old rightfielder who had 47 plate appearances above the single-A level in his career before joining the Marlins Monday.

NEW YORK - In the grand scheme of things, a backup catcher is not crucial to a team's success. The Phillies possessed two backup catchers during the season's first month, and one had to go Sunday when Carlos Ruiz returned from his suspension. Humberto Quintero's locker was cleared early in the morning. The Phillies chose Erik Kratz as their backup and designated Quintero for assignment. They hope to retain Quintero in the organization, but that requires his passing through waivers unclaimed.

Charlie Manuel grabbed a first baseman's mitt hours before first pitch Tuesday night and manned the position. Freddy Galvis and Kevin Frandsen wanted extra work on the infield. The 69-year-old Manuel helped. "We needed somebody," the manager said. What Manuel needs is the man usually at first base, Ryan Howard, to produce more. Howard, typically a slow starter, was off to his worst 18-game stretch entering Tuesday. It is early and the sample size is small, but Howard was trending downward.