Mitch Garver

Mitch Garver

32-Year-Old DHDH
Texas Rangers
10-Day IL
Injury Knee
Est. Return 6/2/2023
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Garver was acquired by the Rangers ahead of the 2022 campaign, but he was limited to 54 games due to a forearm injury that eventually required surgery. He saw action in only 14 contests at catcher and worked primarily as a designated hitter while he tried to play through the injury. Jonah Heim took advantage of the opportunity and had a bit of a breakout, which could put him in line to receive regular playing time behind the plate in 2023. Garver had a .207/.298/.404 slash line with 10 home runs, though the fact he played through the injury for a while likely affected those numbers. Now entering his final season of arbitration eligibility, Garver should split his time between catcher and designated hitter and could be a late-round option for fantasy managers looking for a rebound. Availability remains a question mark given he's played in over 100 games only once in his big-league career. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
#442
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $3.9 million contract with the Rangers in January of 2023.
Rehab going well
DHTexas Rangers
Knee
May 30, 2023
Garver (knee) started at catcher and went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run and an additional run scored for Triple-A Round Rock on Sunday.
ANALYSIS
Garver batted leadoff to maximize plate appearances and was removed after six innings. It was his second consecutive game behind the plate. The catcher/DH began a rehab assignment last week and is 5-for-13 with three walks, two doubles, two home runs, four RBI and five runs scored over four games. The Rangers may want see him play nine innings before activating him this week.
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Batting Stats
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2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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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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2018 MLB Game Log
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2017 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
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
4
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
2
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+9%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+2%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+79%
OPS vs LHP
2021
 
 
+33%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021vs Left .847 174 25 12 27 0 .236 .333 .514
Since 2021vs Right .774 306 31 13 37 2 .233 .330 .444
2023vs Left .933 5 1 0 0 0 .333 .600 .333
2023vs Right .919 17 3 2 6 0 .250 .294 .625
2022vs Left 1.025 64 14 6 11 0 .269 .391 .635
2022vs Right .574 151 9 4 13 1 .184 .258 .316
2021vs Left .737 105 10 6 16 0 .215 .286 .452
2021vs Right .983 138 19 7 18 1 .289 .413 .570
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+9%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+315%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+9%
OPS on Road
2021
 
 
+13%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021Home .837 232 29 9 34 2 .260 .362 .474
Since 2021Away .766 248 27 16 30 0 .211 .302 .463
2023Home 1.186 15 4 2 6 0 .357 .400 .786
2023Away .286 7 0 0 0 0 .000 .286 .000
2022Home .665 100 9 2 9 1 .217 .340 .325
2022Away .728 115 14 8 15 0 .200 .261 .467
2021Home .932 117 16 5 19 1 .283 .376 .556
2021Away .823 126 13 8 15 0 .231 .341 .481
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.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.43
 
BB Rate
13.6%
 
K Rate
31.8%
 
BABIP
.300
 
ISO
.316
 
AVG
.263
 
OBP
.364
 
SLG
.579
 
OPS
.943
 
wOBA
.406
 
Exit Velocity
89.3 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
33.3%
 
Barrels/PA
9.1%
 
Expected BA
.234
 
Expected SLG
.514
 
Sprint Speed
22.1 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
41.7%
 
Line Drive %
8.3%
 
Fly Ball %
50.0%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
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 See More
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
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.
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.
More Fantasy News
Begins rehab assignment
DHTexas Rangers
Knee
May 24, 2023
Garver (knee) went 2-for-4 with two doubles Tuesday in the first game of his rehab assignment with Triple-A Round Rock.
ANALYSIS
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Rehab begins Tuesday
DHTexas Rangers
Knee
May 23, 2023
Garver (knee) will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday, MLB.com reports.
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Nearing rehab assignment
DHTexas Rangers
Knee
May 14, 2023
Manager Bruce Bochy said Sunday that Garver (knee) is expected to begin a rehab assignment around May 23, Sonja Chen of MLB.com reports.
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Target return date still May 23
DHTexas Rangers
Knee
May 8, 2023
The target date for Garver (knee) to return off the 10-day injured list remains May 23, Kennedi Landry of MLB.com reports.
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Takes batting practice
DHTexas Rangers
Knee
May 6, 2023
Garver (knee) took batting practice Friday, Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News reports.
ANALYSIS
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