One Fan's Opinion: Don't Trade Garver

The job of the catcher is physically demanding. It is certainly a position of attrition. Over the years, the body takes a beating. Squatting behind home plate in eight pounds of gear. Blocking balls in the dirt with the chest protector, or whatever body part gets hit. Throwing to the bases. Framing pitches.  

In addition to the physical demands, the mental part of the game, knowing the opposing batters, working with his pitcher, and the home plate ump. 

Often, the catcher is overlooked and under-appreciated. However, it is one of the most critical roles on the team. While the pitcher gets all the accolades, the catcher deserves a ton of credit for all he does before and during the games to help the pitcher. 

Even though Joe Mauer didn’t catch for years prior to his retirement, the Twins organization has not let us down by having solid players in the catcher position. While none may have been a "hometown hero," Mitch Garver has become a fan favorite. 

The 31-year-old baseball player has not slowed down since coming into the 40 man roster in 2017. Garver's age based on the way he recovers and plays is certainly not a factor - not only for him but for baseball in general. The catcher is typically the oldest position on the field - simply because it's hard to find a good catcher, and when you do, you sign them. The average age of a catcher has continued to change over the years. While 30 years old is in the 86th percentile of the age bracket for catchers, his predecessor would show that the average is just another statistic (Joe Mauer retired in 2018 at the age of 35, but was done catching at the age of 30). Garver has no intention of allowing his age to be a setback. 

Due to an IL stint early in 2021, Mitch Garver had two years in a row that weren’t nearly as good or productive as 2019. As if 2020 wasn't enough of a buzz-kill thanks to Covid-19, Garver was already suffering from an intercostal strain making his defensive play less than desirable. Twins Daily writer J. Cameron wrote a link on March 7th describing why 2020 was a poor season for Garver and 2021 wasn't as glamorous as 2019. 

However, he was undoubtedly poised for hitting the ball, still being one of the best hitting catchers in MLB. That came to a screeching halt on June 1st, while playing against the Orioles. Garver took a foul tip to the groin, putting the player on the IL and requiring surgery. The plague of injuries continued not only for Garver but the Twins.

Garver had a successful emergency surgery and addressed the fans, thanking them for their well-wishes and prayers. 

Garver spent the next seven weeks? Rehabbing for St. Paul just before paternity leave. We got a glimpse of the 2019 Garver when he smacked a line-drive solo shot to left field off Detroit Tigers righty Reynaldo López in the second inning. He also lobbed a solo shot to center field off reliever Matt Foster in the fifth inning. 

To solidify his place in the lineup - for the first time in his career, Garver hit a grand-slam in the July 27th game - just his second game back after rehab - off pitcher Tyler Alexander 433 feet into left-center bleachers. 

Garver only played in 68 games, started out the season with the team as the starting catcher, but then left in June, had three separate stints in the Injured List, spent time on the paternity list, and still gave the fans and the front office a reason to cheer. With 243 plate appearances, the catcher hit 15 doubles, 13 homers and had 34 RBI.  He was up above league average in OPS, slugging percentage and had a solid on-base percentage  OBP. His  max velocity averaged in the 86th percentile for 2021 among other catchers in the league.  

Garver had also not lost his touch behind the plate. He has a strong chemistry with the pitching staff that seems to be second to none. He understands the players at the plate, their strengths and weaknesses, and exploits them. He has greatly improved his pitch framing which gives  his pitchers more strikes. His small defensive movements to frame the ball just enough to pull off strikes is pure magic. Garver finished at number 12 in the MLB framing leader board for 2021 despite playing just 68 games played. That may not mean a lot to everyone, and that's fine - but what it shows is that Garver is a catching mastermind and knows how to work the plate, umps, and batters, something that select few catchers seem to do very well. Chemistry is not easy to find between a catcher and pitcher, and it can affect how a game turns out. Rortvedt and Jeffers also have great chemistry with the pitchers, but they haven’t been around as long as Garver in the organization, giving him an edge.

When Garver returned from both the groin injury, hand injury and paternity leave, the Twins games improved. Not to say Garver carried the team, as Byron Buxton also returned, but his return and position in the line up is an asset to the team. 

Ryan Jeffers, while younger, and defensively sound, does not show as much solidarity as Garver all around. Garver hopefully  has years left behind the plate, but the other two catchers are not ready for the demand of a 162- game season. While Jeffers and Rortvedt have good defensive skill and offensive potential (especially Jeffers), now is not the time to trade Mitch Garver.  

If you were in charge, what would the Twins catching situation look like in 2022? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. 

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