Mitch Garver

31-Year-Old CatcherC

Texas Rangers

10-Day IL

Injury Elbow

Est. Return 5/20/2022

2022 Stats

AVG

.205

RBI

Rest-of-Season Projections

AVG

RBI

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2022 Fantasy Outlook

Garver found a happy medium between his breakout 2019 (31 home runs, 24.2 K%) and his disastrous 2020 (two homers, 45.7 K%), reaching 13 long balls and striking out at a 29.2% clip in 243 plate appearances. Most catchers are banged up early on in the Major League Baseball campaign and remain that way. Garver was no different in 2021, battling shoulder and knee injuries before finally requiring IL stints due to groin and back issues. That's been a theme throughout his career (he attributed his 2020 struggles to an intercostal injury) and the Twins managed him carefully when they were lucky enough to have Garver on the field over the past five seasons. Minnesota was ready to move on after the lockout, however, trading Garver to Texas in exchange for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez. The change in home ballparks is negligible for a right-handed hitter, but Garver will be in a less talented lineup. Even so, his fantasy value in 2022 will be directly tied to how many games he is healthy for. Read Past Outlooks

RANKSFrom Preseason

#165

ADP

Overall

Dynasty

League Majors

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 6'1"

Weight 220

DOB 1/15/1991

Born Albuquerque, NM

College New Mexico

Drafted 9th Rd 2013 MIN

Beginning rehab assignment Tuesday

CTexas Rangers

Elbow

May 16, 2022

Garver (elbow) will start a rehab assignment with Double-A Frisco on Tuesday, Levi Weaver of The Athletic reports.

ANALYSIS
Garver was placed on the 10-day injured list May 10 due to a right flexor sprain, and he's already been given the green light to return to game action. Weaver notes that Garver will serve as the designed hitter, at least at the beginning of his rehab assignment. The backstop will be eligible to be activated beginning May 20.

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Batting Stats

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2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

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2021 MLB Game Log

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2020 MLB Game Log

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2019 MLB Game Log

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Minor League Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2020

+4%

OPS vs LHP

2022

+57%

OPS vs LHP

2021

+33%

OPS vs RHP

2020

+124%

OPS vs LHP

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2020vs Left	.769	162	19	9	22	0	.238	.315	.455
Since 2020vs Right	.738	251	25	9	25	1	.220	.327	.411
2022vs Left	.836	31	5	2	5	0	.259	.355	.481
2022vs Right	.533	58	2	1	3	0	.176	.259	.275
2021vs Left	.737	105	10	6	16	0	.215	.286	.452
2021vs Right	.983	138	19	7	18	1	.289	.413	.570
2020vs Left	.819	26	4	1	1	0	.304	.385	.435
2020vs Right	.365	55	4	1	4	0	.102	.182	.184
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2020

+12%

OPS at Home

2022

+9%

OPS at Home

2021

+13%

OPS at Home

2020

+14%

OPS on Road

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2020Home	.789	190	22	7	23	1	.242	.342	.447
Since 2020Away	.707	212	21	10	23	0	.211	.307	.400
2022Home	.665	44	3	1	3	0	.243	.341	.324
2022Away	.610	45	4	2	5	0	.171	.244	.366
2021Home	.932	117	16	5	19	1	.283	.376	.556
2021Away	.823	126	13	8	15	0	.231	.341	.481
2020Home	.407	29	3	1	1	0	.080	.207	.200
2020Away	.463	41	4	0	3	0	.194	.268	.194
More Splits→	View More Split Stats

Stat Review

How does Mitch Garver compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
Sprint Speed
The speed of a batter in feet per second.

BB/K

0.50

BB Rate

11.2%

K Rate

22.5%

BABIP

.232

ISO

.141

AVG

.205

OBP

.292

SLG

.346

OPS

.638

wOBA

.287

Exit Velocity

81.7 mph

Hard Hit Rate

25.4%

Barrels/PA

6.2%

Sprint Speed

22.3

Prospect Rankings History

View Complete Mitch Garver Prospect Ranking History

Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

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Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Mitch Garver

AL FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week

3 days ago

Erik Siegrist reviews the free-agent pool in the American League and finds a mixed bag of prospects, veterans and players returning from injuries, including Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen.

MLB FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week

6 days ago

Jason Shebilske analyzes the top wavier-wire options for the week, including Mariners rookie George Kirby.

MLB Barometer: Risers & Fallers

9 days ago

Erik Halterman uses Monday's column to compare a player's NFBC average draft position to his Earned Auction Value ranking, beginning his analysis with Marlins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez.

Collette Calls: Slow Starts

19 days ago

Jason Collette examines slow starts by some big names. He tries to decipher whether or not we should be concerned, and if so, to what extent.

MLB FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week

20 days ago

Jason Shebilske analyzes the top waiver-wire options for the week, including J.P. Crawford, who recently moved to the heart of the Mariners' order.

Past Fantasy Outlooks

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

Garver's 2020 could hardly be more different than his 2019 breakout season. Garver went from hitting 31 home runs with a .630 SLG, to struggling with injuries, being lost at the plate and slugging just .264. Garver was hitting just .154 with a .474 OPS in his first 17 games before landing on the injured list with an intercostal strain. He missed a month with the injury and played sparingly when he returned. When he was healthy, he struggled to make contact with a 45.7 K%. He did at least maintain his improved defense with 3 DRS at catcher. Garver does draw walks (8.6%) and makes hard contact (41.7% hard hit rate). His 2019 season may have been unsustainable due to a 29% HR/FB rate. However, his 2020 campaign is likely the other extreme and his injury may have been a factor all season. Either way, the Twins will likely continue to make a concerted effort to keep their catchers well rested. As a result, he could split playing time with Ryan Jeffers, who established himself in Garver's absence, even though both hit right-handed.

Garver took a quantum leap in his second full season. His 31 home runs ranked second among catchers, and he did that despite amassing just 359 plate appearances, 20th among backstops. The Twins made a concerted effort to keep their catchers well rested and didn't alter the plan even with Garver's success. Garver also improved with his defense as he changed up his catching stance behind the plate to get lower and improve his pitch framing. He went from -16 DRS to 0 DRS at catcher as a result. Garver drew walks (11.4 BB%), made hard contact and had a passable strikeout rate (24.2 K%), which indicate his improvement was mostly legitimate. However, a 29% HR/FB rate is clearly unsustainable. Thankfully, the inevitable dip in rate stats should be offset to an extent by more playing time, as Garver is the team's clear top catcher with Jason Castro leaving via free agency.

Garver took over as the primary catcher last year when Jason Castro was lost for the season with a knee injury and showed he can hit well enough to be a significant part of the equation behind the plate in 2019. He hit .293/.340/.474 in the second half while splitting starts behind the plate. Garver draws walks at a decent clip (8.7%) and has modest power (seven HR, .146 ISO). However, he is not as strong against right-handed pitchers (.629 OPS) and wasn't a young rookie (turned 28 this offseason). He's a below-average defender behind the dish (-15 DRS, 34th among catchers), which could limit his playing time. He'll likely occupy the lesser side of a platoon with Jason Castro, which would help boost his batting average, if not his counting stats. Garver has shown he can hit well enough that even in a limited role he'll offer fantasy value in deeper two-catcher leagues.

Garver will contend for the backup catcher role with the Twins after a breakout season at Triple-A, where he hit 17 home runs with a .928 OPS. He showed some promise by posting a .753 OPS at Double-A in 2016, but wasn't considered a notable prospect since he was already 25. He hit for more power (.250 ISO), drew more walks (13.4 percent walk rate), and improved his defense at Triple-A, but it’s not clear if the improved offensive numbers were a product of him actually getting better or simply getting older. He could be a late bloomer at age 27 this season, although history tells us that is unlikely. That said, the catcher pool is so barren when it comes to offensive production, that Garver’s success at Triple-A, even as a 26-year-old merits notice. He is the favorite to win the backup spot over Chris Gimenez, but given Jason Castro’s contract and defensive prowess, Garver is unlikely to earn more than a third of the at-bats.

Given the dearth of catching in the Minnesota system, Garver has gained some steam as a sleeper at the position. He hit 11 home runs with a 118 wRC+ in 95 games at Double-A and dominated a brief run at Triple-A, thanks largely to a .436 BABIP. At age 25, he's not a top prospect but could find a role in the majors in 2017.

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