Mitch Garver

[diehardtwinsfan]

I was looking through minor league status this morning and noticed this catcher has a .922 OPS on the season thus far for Cedar Rapids, which isn't exactly a hitters league. He's 23, so not exactly young for the league, but he's also a catcher and is sporting a pretty nice OBP. Just curious on what people think of him as a prospect.

[jokin]

I was looking through minor league status this morning and noticed this catcher has a .922 OPS on the season thus far for Cedar Rapids, which isn't exactly a hitters league. He's 23, so not exactly young for the league, but he's also a catcher and is sporting a pretty nice OBP. Just curious on what people think of him as a prospect.

 

Garver has already had some discussion going here after his hot start. And he's continued to show the way in CR. Only a 9th round, 4th year college guy, his hitting stats in his junior and senior year look awfully good, so maybe last season's low production numbers in E-Town was just fatigue factoring in.

 

Don't know how he compares to Tyler Grimes (5th round in 2011) behind the plate, but the route to a promotion to Ft. Myers for Garver seems wide open. Grimes is batting .085 with a .279 OPS. Soon-to-be 26 year old Jairo Rodriguez is batting .136 with a .436 OPS. Stuart Turner is highly regarded by scouting services in the sense that he's supposedly the most defensively-ready major league-level Catcher in the Twins system, but he's only batting .183 with a .479 OPS.

[twinsfan34]

I've been watching those numbers too and occasionally seeing some At-Bats through the local news (Cedar Rapids) showing some of his at-bats/highlights.

 

The thing with catchers is it's harder to pinpoint their 'development' on paper or through stats. They have the mental aspect of calling a game (not seen on paper) and then hitting.

 

I hope he continues to rake and ends up at A+ by mid-season and then AA next year. As you guys eluded to, he's not that young for the league and a college guy. I equate a college player needing to have started or be in A+ in their first* full year to be 'even' in the development game vs a high school kid. So he's a little behind. A high schooler who's not a 'top prospect' would probably spend his first 2 years in extended ST. At age 20 hit A-ball, maybe stay there all year, and 21/22 he'd be at A+ and hope to be at AA year end.

 

*2013 was only a half season btw. 2014 is his first full year.