Diamondbacks Pick Manasquan Alum Alex Galvan in MLB Draft

At the end of his high school baseball career, Alex Galvan did not get a chance to show what he could do on the mound. At the beginning of his college career, his chance to prove himself did not go as planned.

Five years after Galvan graduated from Manasquan High School with a more decorated career on the basketball court than on the baseball diamond, his relentless work on his craft led to his moment on Monday, when the Arizona Diamondbacks made Galvan their 13th round selection in the 2025 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Galvan started his college career at the University of Louisville and in three years pitching out of the Cardinals bullpen, the 6-foot-6 right-hander posted a career ERA of 5.40 in 37 appearances, including an ERA of 6.35 in each of his last two seasons in the program.

Looking for a fresh started heading into his redshirt junior season, Galvan transferred to the University of Central Florida and pitched in only 5 1/3 innings, in which he logged a 5.06 ERA while striking out nine with just four hits and no walks allowed.

That encouraging sample in 2024 carried Galvan into his final year this past spring and he authored his breakout campaign as a collegiate player. In 28 1/3 innings, Galvan saved two games and posted a 2.86 ERA with 21 hits, 12 walks and 38 strikeouts. His fastball climbed into the mid-90-miles-per-hour range, which — along with his 6-6 frame — was enough to land him on the draft radar of the Diamondbacks.

As a two-sport star in high school, Galvan was a force for Manasquan’s back-to-back NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II championship team in both 2018-19 and 2019-20. As a junior in 2018-19, he averaged 17.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocked shots in helping the Warriors reach the Shore Conference Tournament final and win the first of six consecutive NJSIAA sectional championships — a streak that remains active heading into next season.

Manasquan comes right back with 6 in a row to go up 14-11. Alex Galvan with the steal and dunk to force the Midd South timeout. pic.twitter.com/XS40INQ1wG

— Matt Manley (@Matt_Manley) December 29, 2019

The following year, Galvan was on his way to potentially winning the Conference’s Player of the Year Award before a shin injury knocked him out of action for three weeks. Despite the injury, Galvan was a First-Team All-Shore selection for a second straight year, averaging 18.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game as the Warriors won their first Shore Conference Tournament championship in more than 60 years on the way to finishing ranked No. 4 in the state.

As a baseball player, Galvan showed enough on the travel circuit to earn a scholarship offer from Louisville, but his impact for Manasquan was limited to 10 2/3 impressive innings as a junior. In those 10-plus innings, Galvan struck out 16, walked four, allowed seven hits and posted a 1.31 ERA.

Galvan was going to get off to a late start to his senior baseball season thanks to a deep run in the state basketball playoffs, but both endeavors were cut short by the onset of the COVID pandemic in March of 2020. Manasquan’s NJSIAA Group II semifinal vs. national power Camden was canceled and the baseball season never started. Galvan would head to Louisville having pitched all of 10 2/3 innings in high school.

Although he was limited on the mound, Galvan still made an impact for Manasquan has a middle-of-the-order hitter and first baseman. In his junior year in 2019, he hit .339/.418/.475 with two doubles, two home runs, 14 RBI and 10 stolen bases.

The two-sport career at Manasquan and five-year college journey has led Galvan to the Diamondbacks organization and he hopes to Phoenix with the MLB club. Galvan is likely to begin his development as a reliever once he is officially signed and reports to his assigned team.