Mitch Garver excited for opportunity, fit with Mariners
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 29: Mitch Garver #18 of the Texas Rangers at bat against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on September 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
For Mitch Garver, the Seattle Mariners were just the right place for him to sign this offseason.
Garver said Thursday that the Mariners were aggressive in their pursuit of him in free agency and gave him the right opportunity to move forward in his career after winning a World Series with the Texas Rangers last fall. His new deal with the Mariners is reportedly a two-year deal worth $24 million.
"They were the team that seemed the most aggressive. They were one of the early teams to call and the way they presented how they saw me as a player made me feel really valued," Garver said.
Garver has been a productive hitter at times, but has struggled to stay healthy during parts of seven seasons in the majors. The 102 games played with the Minnesota Twins in 2018 serve as the highest total of his career. Garver has primarily been a catcher throughout his career before being asked to play more as a designated hitter over the last two years in Texas.
With Jonah Heim taking control of the catching spot with the Rangers, a move to DH was the best way for Garver's bat to stay in the lineup. But it was still an adjustment for Garver to make after being such an involved piece of the daily grind as a catcher. Garver took some tips from former Mariners designated hitter Nelson Cruz, who he played with for the Minnesota Twins, to help figure out a routine that worked for him.
"When I got into a consistent routine on how to do it, I became a little bit better at it," Garver said. "And I learned a lot from Nelson Cruz, obviously, probably one of the best DH's out there and being able to play alongside him and then on the other side of the field from him as well, I learned a lot from him. A lot of the things that I do now are just from watching him behind the scenes and being able to add that into my own game."
Garver played in 82 games for the Rangers last season. The majority of his games came as a designated hitter with just 28 games behind the plate. Garver was a .270 hitter last season with 19 home runs and 50 RBI and an .870 on-base-plus-slugging (OPS) percentage.
Garver earned a Silver Slugger award while with the Twins in 2019 after setting career-highs with a .273 batting average, 31 home runs, 67 RBI and an OPS of .995. He hit .226 with three home runs and 14 RBI in 14 postseason games with Texas last year en route to winning the World Series.
The Mariners have spoken this offseason about a desire to cut down on their strikeout rates and Garver's ability to deliver contact should be a plus for the lineup.
"I think what I do as a player is control the strike zone," Garver said. "I like to look for a pitch that I can hit hard and usually don't sacrifice weak contact just to put a ball in play. Like, I'm not going to swing at something just to swing at it. I usually have a plan for every at-bat and I try to execute it to the best of my abilities."
The hope for the Mariners is that playing as a designated hitter more often with allow Garver to stay in the lineup nearly every day. Garver will be a backup catching option for Seattle and he fully intends to be involved with the game planning and pitching efforts on a daily basis despite his focus moving more to the DH role.
"Even the last few months where I really didn't have too much of a chance to get into the game catching, I still felt very involved," Garver said. "I was involved in the scouting reports. I was involved in the game calling. I was involved in the mid-game adjustments and the reviews that you do after the game, and I always felt very obligated to be alongside Jonah and we talked about the game as it's going on. And we talked about adjustments that we might need to make or things that we see happening and I think I have that experience that I can bring to this team.
"Even if I'm not catching, you know, I do like to be involved in game calling. I've learned a few things over the years. Cal [Raleigh] is a great catcher himself and he's got a few years under his belt, but I do feel like the way that I've learned how to scout guys and I've learned how to scout myself, it kind of brings a different perspective on how teams can approach the opposing team."
Garver does not have a single hit in his career at T-Mobile Park, his new home stadium. In eight games played in Seattle, Garver is 0-for-31 with two walks, eight strikeouts, an RBI and a run scored.
"T-Mobile itself I have not hit well at, but I also attribute to the guys that I've faced," Garver said. "Going in there and facing [Logan] Gilbert, [George] Kirby, [Bryan] Woo, [Bryce] Miller, all these guys that you're just like 'oh my gosh.' it's one of those series where you kind of scratch and claw for runs, so I'm excited to be on their team now."
The final series of last season for Texas was in Seattle against the Marienrs with both teams fighting for playoff spots down to the final weekend. Seattle fell short while the Rangers went on to win it all. However, Garver was impressed with the atmosphere for the games against the Mariners in what was essentially already a playoff environment.
"We went up to Seattle. It was like that was a playoff atmosphere," he said. "The crowd was electric. It really felt like you were playing in ALCS, ALDS game. And we only came to realize that when we went to Tampa for the Wildcard series where it was just like you're kind of playing the game with nobody in the stands."
Garver is bullish on the team he is joining and believes the young talent has a lot of potential.
"It's been a really fun crowd. Young, energetic. They have a lot to cheer for and I really do hope that the fans realize how good this team can be," he said. "The pitching staff itself is probably top five, top three in the league. And then you add in the bullpen and then the depth behind it. Young players are very exciting to be a part of and I think the city Seattle, the state of Washington has a lot to look forward to in this team."