The Twins Need To Protect Mitch Garver

[Cody Pirkl]

Mitch Garver has established himself as one of the core pieces of the Twins offense the last few years. With that in mind, it may be time for the Twins to start putting more effort into setting Garver up for long term success.

Catcher is a difficult position both physically and mentally. Manning the backstop is what cost one of the all-time great Twins in Joe Mauer so dearly in his prime. Even if Mauer had avoided the concussion that resulted in his move to first base, it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where he would have prematurely declined due to the demands of his position. The Twins may want to try to avoid a similar scenario when it comes to Mitch Garver.

Garver is far from the typical catcher in today’s baseball environment. Regulars at the position are typically expected to provide strong defense and adequately call a game for a pitching staff. If they can hold their own offensively that’s just a bonus.

Garver on the other hand is a bat-first catcher. He’s far from terrible defensively and has made great strides in things like framing where he ranked in the 93rd percentile in 2021. He may not win any gold gloves but he doesn’t have to given his ability in the batter’s box. Not only has he been an above-average hitter in three of the last four seasons, but he’s also been flat-out incredible in two of them.

Garver uses a mastery of the strike zone to lay off borderline pitches and force pitchers into making mistakes. His 2019 was argued as the best offensive season by a catcher since Mike Piazza when he was 55% above league average offensively and nearly put up 4 fWAR in under 400 plate appearances. It’s possible his disastrous 2020 where he posted a .167/.247/.264 line was injury-related, as in 2021 he returned to form hitting .256/.358/.517, good for 37% above the league average hitter.

It’s become clear that Garver shouldn’t be valued just for his offensive skills as a catcher, but for his offensive skills in general. With other candidates for the position debuting such as Ryan Jeffers and Ben Rortvedt, perhaps it’s time to better set Garver up for success moving forward.

Garver has played first base to some extent in every season of his career, although his career-high in innings at the position is 24 in 2017. Still, it may benefit the Twins to make a more concerted effort to get Garver time at a less physically demanding position. Not only is his concussion history worrisome, but it’s fair to wonder at 31 how soon the wear and tear throughout the season could begin to impact his ability to perform at the plate.

Besides injury risk, moving Garver even part-time off of catcher could make him available in the lineup more often while allowing Rortvedt and Jeffers to get more exposure. Jeffers in particular was held down in 2021 by getting the bulk of at-bats against right-handers in order to allow Garver to crush lefties whenever possible. It was a tough ask of a rookie and Jeffers understandably struggled at the plate seeing almost exclusively same-handed pitching.

Alex Kirilloff will be back in 2022 hopefully as the everyday first baseman with Miguel Sano rotating in. Still, Kirilloff will likely see some outfield innings and Sano and Garver can share first base and DH duties. In the last two seasons, Sano has inexplicably been well below league average against left-handed pitching, an area you can always expect Garver to excel in. If those trends continue, Garver could just overtake Sano’s at-bats altogether.

Much like the eternal question “How will we find enough at-bats for Player X?” The question of how to fit Garver into DH or first base on occasion would work itself out if the Twins choose to go that route. The question is whether they decide it’s time to do so. I’d argue that it can only help.
Garver’s bat will be all the more important without Nelson

Cruz in 2022 and the skills that make him such a force on offense should be able to age gracefully if he can avoid injury. Is it time to start easing him off of his natural position to try to keep him effective at the plate longer?

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[mikelink45]

When you say Garver is "37% above the league average hitter."  I see that as all players or is it at catcher?  I do not see the need to put him at 1B right now until I see how the Sano and Kiriloff mix is. Of course thanks to baseball and Covid he is seeing less games without any maneuvering and I am including this year.

[roger]

Seems like the FO has allowed the roster to become overloaded with bat first corner players.  Drafting Rooker, Wallner and Sabato lines up more of the same.  Team needs some work to get more balance around the diamond.  How does this effect Garver?  Not a lot of at bats available at first base or DH.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

Garver’s .372 wOBA in 2021 would have ranked him the number 8 first baseman.

He can clearly hit well enough to be an asset away from C, but as @roger so astutely pointed out, this roster is bloated with corner hitters who can’t field. Garver fields C quite competently, why would you hurt two positions for a 31 year old?
 

He’s no spring chicken and comparing him to Mauer isn’t a fair comp at all. My plan would be to play Garver at C as much as his body can handle. Rest him, but get him behind the dish 4 days a week or more if he holds up.

[TopGunn#22]

I think the comp to Mauer is just what Cody wanted, nothing more than a catcher who is a VERY good hitter but that catchers tend to get beat up more than most other position players.  As hitters, Mauer and Garver are almost polar opposites.  I think Cody is making an excellent point.  We have two young catchers in Jeffers and Rortvedt who need to play.  It may be a little too soon for Rortvedt with the Twins, but he did play a bit with them last year and his defensive chops are for real.  We currently have no LF'er.  The idea, (even if Kiriloff is the superior defensive 1B-man) of rotating Garver and Sano between DH & 1B and sticking AK out in LF may hurt the overall defense a bit, but would really add juice to the lineup.  If the Twins could live with the ups and downs of Jeffers and Rortvedt offensively, this is a strategy I would fully support.  I'd love to see what Garve-Sauce could do with 500 AB's.   

[Karbo]

At this point I think AK is going to see more OF. Unless Larnach shows he can hit the off speed stuff and I think he will have to show that in St. Paul 1st. So I would think there may be some time at 1st but I would think more time at DH. Just a guess but with Miranda ready for at least a look I would think he will get some chances at 1st. Although they may also try him in the OF, I'm told his arm doesn't play real well there. Bit of a puzzle. As Roger said we have an awful lot of corner pieces, now may be the time to try and trade some out for other missing pieces?

[Richie the Rally Goat]

1 hour ago, TopGunn#22 said:

I think the comp to Mauer is just what Cody wanted, nothing more than a catcher who is a VERY good hitter but that catchers tend to get beat up more than most other position players.  As hitters, Mauer and Garver are almost polar opposites.  I think Cody is making an excellent point.  We have two young catchers in Jeffers and Rortvedt who need to play.  It may be a little too soon for Rortvedt with the Twins, but he did play a bit with them last year and his defensive chops are for real.  We currently have no LF'er.  The idea, (even if Kiriloff is the superior defensive 1B-man) of rotating Garver and Sano between DH & 1B and sticking AK out in LF may hurt the overall defense a bit, but would really add juice to the lineup.  If the Twins could live with the ups and downs of Jeffers and Rortvedt offensively, this is a strategy I would fully support.  I'd love to see what Garve-Sauce could do with 500 AB's.   

Jeffers and Rortvedt<Rooker, Larnach or any free agent left fielder.

Kiriloff, Garver and Sano are in the lineup in all of these scenarios, so no the Op would not juice the lineup, quite the opposite.

[USNMCPO]

2 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

When you say Garver is "37% above the league average hitter."  I see that as all players or is it at catcher?  I do not see the need to put him at 1B right now until I see how the Sano and Kiriloff mix is. Of course thanks to baseball and Covid he is seeing less games without any maneuvering and I am including this year.

I keep looking at the logjams and wonder how they are going to get playing time for all these guys. The only answer I can come up with is that they won't. The numbers don't match up. So what do they do? Kirilloff needs to play and 1st base is where he should be playing. Sano has one year left on his contract if my memory is correct. Who knows how many games will be played this year. What if they only get 120 games in? Sano always seems to me to take half a season to get his hitting in gear. Should the team expect that again this year? Why not see if they can trade him, perhaps as a part of a package for a pitcher? Everybody loves his long bombs but no one loves his whiffs. 

[Rosterman]

I doubt Garver will ever catch more than 80 games again in a season.

 

The Twins still have him around for three more seasons, to say the least. That he can catch is a bonus. I would get him some reps at first base. And he would be a prime DH candidate. 

 

The Twins have one more season of Sano. I would happily jettison Sano if Garver shows continued success at the plate, and if Kirilloff is your first baseman for the future, considering you have Sabato and Wallner coming up in the minors. The Twins can also live without Donaldson if we think Miranda is the real thing. Both of those bodies would better suit DH going forward, but not at the expense and, in that sense, they serve little purpose that we can't get from Garver - WHO CAN ALSO CATCH!

 

Garver reminds me of Randy Bush, or Gene Larkin. That guy who can come off the bench, also catch unlike the others mentioned above, and would probably welcome prolonging his career in a Twins uniform. He isn't flashy and would be passed over by other teams as a DH or catcher. But can find and keep a home here.

[Doctor Gast]

 I love Rortvedt defense & arm  but I agree that he should stay down a little longer to hone his hitting skills. Once he does that it'd be awsome to have LH hitter as catcher, Also agree that we need to protect Garver, once he's completely healthy he'd be awsome. We can put him at DH also at times to give him a break.

[Blyleven2011]

Do we protect him or trade him ,,, his trade value is probably the highest of any current player on the 40 man roster followed by arreaz,  in  arreaz first season arreaz  proved he is a major leaguer ( to me anyway ) , most players take 3 years to know what you get  ,,,

The twins have to much surplus and they play out of their primary position and are inadequate in defense , you need super utility players and the twins don't really have that at the moment ...

I'm for finding a position permanently for the players and not just to get them in the lineup ...

Trade the surplus of players that do not have permanent position  for pitching  ... 

Where do we find at bats for miranda  , he will start in AAA WHENEVER   .. also martin probably will be the shortstop starting the season because the minor leaguers are training and playing  and ahead of the 40 man roster , Palacios could also be the shortstop for 2022

[Dave The Dastardly]

The biggest log in the jam is Sano. 2nd biggest is Donaldson. There's no place for either of them if the Twins are serious about becoming competitive in 2023. And if they hang on to both of them this season, if there's a season, that will push that hoped for competitiveness back to 2024 as Kirilloff, Garver, Miranda, Jeffers, Larnach, Arraez and Gordon will all lose AB's and playing time this season as a result.

There ain't no future in the past.

 

 

[PDX Twin]

Can he play SS?

(This is a joke.)

[wsnydes]

10 hours ago, Sconnie said:

Garver’s .372 wOBA in 2021 would have ranked him the number 8 first baseman.

He can clearly hit well enough to be an asset away from C, but as @roger so astutely pointed out, this roster is bloated with corner hitters who can’t field. Garver fields C quite competently, why would you hurt two positions for a 31 year old?
 

He’s no spring chicken and comparing him to Mauer isn’t a fair comp at all. My plan would be to play Garver at C as much as his body can handle. Rest him, but get him behind the dish 4 days a week or more if he holds up.

Agreed.  The last thing this roster needs is another log in the jam at corner/DH types.

If there's any team that should know how to deal with a good hitting catcher, it should be this one.

[GNess]

 

If Garver plays catcher regularly (100-120 games), which he most certainly should assuming he stays healthy, that basically leaves 6 TBD primary roles to fill as noted:

1B Kirilloff 

LF Arraez, Martin, Larnach, Miranda

DH Sano w/ some Donaldson mixed in allowing for Miranda/Arraez to get AB's at 3B)

SS Free Agent TBD (Lewis?)

4th OF: Celestino

UTL: Gordon, Arraez, Martin

Why is there an issue with Garver's role? Seems fairly simple to resolve even before likely trades. Garver should be the Twins # 1 catching option as his bat is a major+ at catcher, he can really hit and it opens up clear spots for Kirilloff and Sano.

 

[jorgenswest]

The high upside lineup play is to start Garver at catcher as much as reasonable. Perez led the league with 120 starts at catcher. That may not be reasonable. Aiming for 100 seems reasonable. Aiming for another 30-40 starts at DH will give him plenty of at bats in a healthy season.

I suppose you could argue that they have a better chance at a healthy season and more at bats if he reduced his catcher load. I would still go for the upside. The Twins will need to hit on the upside in several places to be relevant this year.

[jimbo92107]

Unlikely as it may seem, I think the Twins have three top shelf catchers at various stages of development. Garver has improved defensively, but at 31 his bod ain't gettin' no younger.

Ryan Jeffers looks like a long-term starting catcher to me, including with the bat.

That leaves Ben Rortvedt. To me, Rortvedt looks like he could develop into a perennial star, if he'd just tuck his chin into his shoulder at the plate. That's how you find the plane of the ball with your bat, by looking down the length of it. That's how Arraez does it, with his Pete Rose stance. Quit standing so upright. 

[bean5302]

Mitch Garver should play catcher as much as possible because that's where he benefits the Twins, and himself, the most.