- Full name Claudia Galva
- Born 11/28/1979 in
Top Rankings
Organization Prospect Rankings
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Since moving into the bullpen in 2000, Galva has been both impressive and frustrating. He constantly pitches behind in the count and gets himself into trouble before finding ways to extricate himself. Despite his proclivity for putting himself in jams, he consistently gets results. He was effective last year as a secondary closer behind Tyler Yates, who was traded to the Mets for David Justice this offseason. Galva's biggest improvement in 2001 was his increased use of his changeup. His fastball, which has life and low-90s velocity, and his slider are both solid pitches. His arm is extremely resilient and allows him to pitch several days in a row. The A's expect he'll eventually become a setup man or lefty specialist because he lacks a dominant pitch to close. They hope that a year in Triple-A will help Galva develop the consistency to make the next step to the majors.