How Rylan Galvan turned embarrassment into excellence, became Texas baseball star
Jitters danced through Rylan Galvan's legs as he dug into the batter's box. His body felt weighed down, heavy. And his mind frantically searched for an explanation there wasn't time to find.
Former Texas baseball coach David Pierce had called upon Galvan for a pinch-hit at-bat with runners on the corners and one out in the 2023 Big 12 Tournament. The Longhorns were trailing Kansas 6-2 in the seventh inning.
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Galvan — then a freshman — froze, his bat cemented to his right shoulder. He took three straight strikes before returning to the Texas dugout feeling 'as embarrassed (he'd) ever felt on a baseball field.'
'I didn't come through,' Galvan remembered earlier this month. 'I didn't even give myself a chance. I didn't swing.'
That at-bat encapsulated everything that plagued Galvan as a younger player: self-doubt, anxiety, an inability to control his body and his mind. To watch him swagger his way around the right-handed batter's box as a junior in 2025 is to witness a player who has conquered all of those obstacles.
Rylan Galvin is learning a valuable lesson
Galvan's journey over the mountain in his mind began serendipitously, less than 24 hours after the moment that embarrassed him so comprehensively in the Big 12 Tournament.
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He found his place next to former Longhorns infielder Mitchell Daly at breakfast the next morning, convinced that his teammates would judge him harshly for his failure. His own mind was granting him no leeway, after all.
'I just had to talk about it,' Galvan said. 'I had to say something. I looked to Mitch and I said, 'What do you think of that? That was terrible. Do you remember that?' He kind of just looked at me and he was just like, 'What are you talking about? What do you mean?'
'He didn't even remember it happened. I was making it out to be like, 'Oh my God, everybody saw that, everybody's going to look at me different.' And then that very next morning, not even 24 hours later, my teammates had already forgotten what had happened. And that's when I really realized that nothing's ever as bad as you make it out to be.'
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Galvan finished his freshman season with a .226 batting average and .761 OPS in 22 starts. Those were numbers that threatened his confidence and nullified the natural swagger he emitted every time he put on a pair of cleats.
'I kind of looked myself in the mirror and it was just like I was a different person,' he said.
Fans cheer after Texas catcher Rylan Galvan tags out a Cal Poly runner at the plate during the Longhorns' 7-0 win earlier this season.
Galvan left to play in the California Collegiate League that summer, resolving to wipe his mind clean. There, he played regularly, posting subpar numbers but learning a lesson that helped unlock his star power.
'I don't necessarily have to feel the best to be able to go out there and just to play my best,' Galvan said. 'You know, in this game, you're never going to feel 100%. You're never going to feel like your swing's where you want it. But at the end of the day, you just have to go out there and compete with what you have. I really have a better understanding of just competing. Just, at the end of the day, when you step in that box, it's me versus the pitcher. Nothing matters. Just finding ways to pitch and compete.'
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That approach, paired with Galvan's more developed understanding of how to regulate his emotions and his mentality, transformed him into one of the college game's best catchers. In 2024, he hit .287 with eight home runs and posted a .898 OPS. This season he's batting .295 and is leading the Longhorns in home runs (14) and OPS (1.064) on his way to first-team All-SEC recognition.
Behind the plate, he leads a pitching staff that ranks fifth in the country and at the top of the SEC with a 3.56 ERA entering the NCAA Tournament.
Rylan Galvan has played his best against the best. He has a team-leading 1.012 on-base plus slugging percentage in SEC play with 62 total bases in 29 games. "I've had some elite (catchers) in my time, and Rylan is right up there with all of them," UT coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
'The quarterback's got the ball in his hands all the time like the catcher has the ball in his hand all the time,' Texas coach Jim Schlossnagle said. 'I've had some elite ones in my time, and Rylan is right up there with all of them. There's never been a good baseball team without a good catcher, and there's never been a great baseball team without a great catcher.'
Texas' Rylan Galvan: 'Go out there and be you'
Great catchers don't fear the big moment. Galvan has learned to embrace them.
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He's delivered for the Longhorns in key spots all season, most notably slugging a walk-off home run April 6 to help Texas secure a series sweep of Georgia.
The legs that shook when he stepped into the box against Kansas two years ago now saunter and strut. When he takes a pitch, you'll often see him break out into a little shuffle. It's not intentional — it's almost involuntary, a way to express the confidence he's worked so hard to cultivate with breathwork and routine.
'It may look dumb or silly to other people,' Galvan said. 'It's just me. A lot of people like it. I know everybody on my team does. The other team may not, but at the end of the day, I don't care. You can't worry about what other people think. Nothing's ever as bad as it seems. Just go out there and be you.
"And when you're yourself and you're competing at your level, at a high level, that's going to put you in the best position to have success.'
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When the Longhorns endured their first rough patch of the season, floundering at the plate as they lost five out of six SEC games to Arkansas and Florida, veteran first baseman Kimble Schuessler implored his teammates to adopt Galvan's uber-competitive approach.
The batter's box shuffle was optional. The determination to battle was not.
Texas pitcher Ruger Riojas hugs catcher Rylan Galvan before leaving the field during the April 25 Texas-Texas A&M game at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. "There's never been a good baseball team without a good catcher, and there's never been a great baseball team without a great catcher,' UT coach Jim Schlossnagle said.
That's who Galvan always was, and what his reclaimed confidence has allowed him to become once again: a natural leader who can disseminate belief throughout his team with his actions.
Just ask Adrian Alaniz, who coached Galvan at Sinton High School and won a national title as a Longhorn in 2005. Alaniz watched Galvan lead something approximating a pregame wrestling match to fire up his team en route to a state title in 2022.
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'Rylan was the guy who was there to get the whole entire team rocking and rolling,' Alaniz said last week. 'He'd say a few chants and then the guys would scream right behind him. Rylan started all of that stuff. So all the little shuffles and stuff like that that he's got going on, it doesn't surprise me that he's doing something funny and animated to give some boost, get some spark. That's just kind of the person he's been.'
Texas' next game
Texas vs. Houston Christian, NCAA regional first round, 1 p.m. Friday, UFCU Disch-Falk Field, ESPN+, 103.1
NCAA Austin regional
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Friday — (Game 1) Texas vs. Houston Christian, 1 p.m., ESPN+, 103.1; (2) Kansas State vs. UTSA, 6 p.m., ESPN+; Saturday — (3) Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner; (4) Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser; Sunday — (5) Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser; (6) Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner; Monday — (7, if needed) Game 6 rematch
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Texas catcher Rylan Galvan celebrates a home run during the March 21 game against LSU at UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Galvan has become one of the team's on-field leaders both behind the plate, in the batter's box and in the locker room.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas baseball: How Rylan Galvan turned embarrassment into excellence
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