GarvSauce - A Proof Point in Falvey's Quest to Optimize Player Development

In their book The MVP Machine, Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik succinctly summarized the focal point of the player development revolution: "Every team now knows which players are projected to be good. But the best teams are discovering ways for players to accomplish what they aren’t projected to do." Amidst an incredible 2019 Twins team full of surprises, no one player encompasses this tenet of player development more than Mitch Garver, who has transformed himself from fringey, solid hitting backup catcher, to a bat whose potency rivals that of Trout, Bellinger, and Yellich. It’s time for a saucy ode to Mitch-a-palooza, an incredible story in the ceiling of the player development revolution.

Background

Garver came to the Twins as a ninth-round pick in the 2013 Amateur draft (230th overall). Starting at Rookie ball in 2013, Garver progressed through approximately one level of the minors per season He quickly establishing himself has having a solid hit tool, strong on base skills and flashing some power -- hitting 29 home runs between two full seasons at AA and AAA. In 2017, Garver put himself firmly in the realm of intriguing Twins prospects, adding significant power to his swing which resulted in an additional .113 points of OPS from his 2016 stint at Rochester (more on this later). Garver got a cup of coffee in the majors in 2017 in which he struggled in the smattering of games he played but which laid the foundation for 2018. In 2018 Garver played 103 games with the Twins, putting together a .268/.335/.414 (.749) line, with seven home runs. In essence, Garver was a league average hitter (strong for the catcher position), with poor defense, who, nevertheless, put himself in a position to open the 2019 season splitting time with Jason Castro, himself returning from an injury ravaged 2018.

Good to Great

After his two home run performance on Monday night against the Yankees, Garver’s 2019 output ascended to new levels of incredulity. Among hitters with at least 200 plate appearances, Garver’s 1.059 OPS and 171 wRC+ ranked fourth among all hitters, behind only Mike Trout (1.111 and 187), Cody Bellinger (1.124 and 183), and Christian Yellich (1.156 and 185). Rarified air indeed. To add more color and context to Garver’s hitting performance, he’s 3rd in the league in SLG, fourth in OPS, second in ISO. Garver’s 162 game fWAR pace is 8.4. In short, he’s a superstar. So what turned Garver from promising hitter, into one who upped his Barrel % from 5.5% in 2018 to 15.5% in 2019?

Mechanical changes

Towards the end of the 2018 season, Roy Smalley detailed some of Garver’s swing changes on FSN. Garver, he explained, had an uphill swing, meaning the torso/upper body is not well centered, resulting in Garver losing the barrel of the bat throughout his swing. Smalley went on the explain that James Rowson was working with Garver to be ‘short to the ball’, pulling the hands in front of the chest towards the ball and maximizing the amount of time the barrel of the bat is moving powerfully through the plane of the swing.

Parker Hageman has posted several great twitter threads detailing Garver’s swing changes between his minor and major league careers. The following stills are taken from a video of his swing in a game in Toronto earlier in the 2019 season.

In the first picture, Garver’s hands have dropped and pulled the bat down to maximize barrel time through the zone

In the second screen shot, Garver’s barrel has now dropped lower, to just above his right hip, angled slightly upward to hit the ball in the air. His legs are positioned to torque and fire his hips as he completes his swing.

In the final picture, the ball is finally in the frame. Garver’s bat has been accelerated through the zone and is ready to meet the ball. It’s an incredibly efficient swing with little to no unnecessary movement.

Garver has transformed from having a promising hit tool, to having an extremely efficient, compact swing which maximized barrel time on plane, and, as a result, Garver has transformed himself into one of the best fastball hitters in baseball.

Defense

Another aspect of Garver’s development between 2018 and 2019 is his defensive work as a catcher. Garver’s defense was a noticeable hindrance to his ability to be a first option big league catcher in 2018. In 2018, Garver was worth -16 DRS (defensive runs saved) and -10.1 FRM (catcher framing runs above average. In 385 innings caught in 2019 (ahead of Wednesday’s rubber game against the Yankees), Garver has been worth +3 DRS and +0.5 FRM. Both Garver, and Twins Minor League Catching Coordinator Tanner Swanson deserve a ton of credit for this defensive improvement. In short, Garver has transformed from a poor defensive backup, to a slightly above average defensive catcher. Therein lies a key component of the Twins player development plans under Derek Falvey, amplify your strengths, and work to raise the floor of your weaknesses.

Garver’s StatCast catching metrics show similar steady improvement. In 2018, Garver’s average pop time of 2.08 seconds was good for 72nd among 85 qualified catchers. In 2019, Garver’s pop time speed has averaged 2.00 seconds. That may seem like a nominal difference, but it’s huge when considering the margins involved in stealing bases (and that the best in MLB is around 1.90). Garver’s average of 2.00 is now good for 28th out of 64 qualified catchers.

Why Doesn’t he Play Every Day?

With Garver’s transformation into one of the elite bats in the AL, a relevant question for the Twins has become ‘is he getting enough ABs’? Garver is splitting time approximately 50/50 with Jason Castro behind the plate. It’s worth exploring getting Garver DH/1B ABs. Accruing Garver an extra 50-75 ABs over the course of the season seems like an easy way to optimize a lineup that has looked more like it’s May iteration in a tough series against the Yankees, an option the Rocco Baldelli should certainly consider for a playoff series.

Garver is evidence that the fruits of Derek Falvey’s push to optimize player development are producing results. Indeed, as a 28 year old in his second MLB season, Garver is forcing us to reconsider notions of what to expect from prospects and the idea that players have a fixed ceiling. No one saw this coming. The Twins now have the best hitting catcher in baseball locked down until 2024.

What do you think of Garver’s development this year? Do you expect him to sustain his current levels of performance? Who do you think is the Twins greatest player development success story this season?