Mitch Garver

BIOGRAPHY

Mitchell Lyn Garver was born on January 15, 1991, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is a catcher in the MLB.

Garver attended La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico and played college baseball at the University of New Mexico. While at New Mexico, he played for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer of 2012.

He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the ninth round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft. He spent his first professional season with the Elizabethton Twins where he batted .243 in 56 games. He spent 2014 with the Cedar Rapids Kernels where he posted a .245 average with 16 home runs and 79 RBI, and 2015 with the Fort Myers Miracle where he batted .329 in 22 games. After the 2015 season he played in the Arizona Fall League. Garver spent 2016 with both the Chattanooga Lookouts and the Rochester Red Wings, where he posted a combined .270 batting average with 11 home runs and 66 RBI. He played in the Arizona Fall League after the season for the second consecutive year. The Twins added him to their 40-man roster after the season. 

In 2017, Garver was promoted from AAA to the MLB to play with the Twins. Garver debuted on August 19, 2017. He got his first major league hit the next day, and played in 23 games that year, batting .196 (9-for-46) with 3 RBI.

In 2018, Garver hit his first home run on April 5, and became the Twins’ primary catcher by May.

In the midst of Garver having a career year, on May 14, 2019, he suffered a left high ankle sprain after a collision at home plate with Angels DH, Shohei Ohtani. To conclude the 2019 season, Garver won his first Silver Slugger Award.

On July 27, 2021, Garver became a part of major league history when both he and Detroit Tigers catcher Eric Haase hit grand slam home runs. It was the first time in MLB history that opposing catchers hit grand slams in the same game.

On March 12, 2022, Garver was traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henríquez. Garver underwent surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right forearm in July 2022 and missed the remainder of that season. Over 54 games for Texas in 2022, he hit just .207/.298/.404/.702 with 10 home runs and 24 RBI.