Mitch Garver DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Seattle Mariners catcher Mitch Garver (hand, wrist) returned to Cactus League action on Saturday against the San Diego Padres and went 0-for-2 at the plate with a walk and a strikeout in the 8-3 loss. Garver was forced to leave Monday's Cactus League game after he was hit by a pitch on his hand/wrist, but the 34-year-old veteran backstop returned to action on Saturday. He was behind the plate and hitting cleanup for the M's. Despite going hitless against SD, Garver is still hitting .400 with a 1.308 OPS, three home runs and six RBI in 10 spring training games. Garver will be fine for Opening Day on March 27 against the division-rival Athletics, but he won't carry much fantasy value in mixed leagues as the primary backup to Cal Raleigh. Most of Garver's at-bats will come as the team's designated hitter. Garver did go deep 15 times in 2024, but he slashed .172/.286/.341 with a 30.9% strikeout rate.

X-rays on Seattle Mariners catcher Mitch Garver's hand/wrist came back negative on Tuesday after he was hit by a pitch during his second plate appearance in Monday's Cactus League game. Trainers and a team doctor will look at Garver on Wednesday to see if a CT scan is necessary, but the Mariners think they avoided a major injury. The 34-year-old veteran backstop isn't dealing with a break of any kind but will likely take at least several days off from game action in camp. In his first year with Seattle in 2024, Garver hit just .172/.286/.341 with 15 home runs, 51 RBI and 37 runs scored in 430 plate appearances and 114 games while sharing playing time with Cal Raleigh. He has reached double-digit home runs in four straight seasons but had a 30.9% strikeout rate. Garver should once again see most of his time as a DH, and although he still has some power, he should only be considered in deep two-catcher leagues for his pop.

Seattle Mariners designated hitter Mitch Garver blasted a two-run home run in Monday's 7-5 Cactus League loss to the Brewers, then exited the contest after being hit by a pitch in the wrist area in his next at-bat. The Mariners are still awaiting the results of X-rays but are obviously hoping for the best outcome as Garver had been having a productive spring and was expected to backup Cal Raleigh at catcher when he wasn't in the lineup as the team's designated hitter. The 34-year-old was hitting .444 (8-for-19) with three home runs, six RBI, and six runs scored in eight games so far this spring. The veteran still has some pop in his bat, as evidenced by the 15 home runs he hit in 114 games last season, but he also saw the strikeout rate soar to a career-worst of 30.9 percent (excluding 2020), 7.1 percent higher than the previous season. The former Silver Slugger award winner may be worthy of a roster spot in AL-only leagues given his power potential and eligibility at catcher, so interested managers will want to see what comes of the X-rays.