The Mariners had an injury scare this evening as catcher Mitch Garver was strike in the wrist by a pitch from Twins right-hander Joe Ryan during this afternoon’s game and exited with what Seattle termed a right wrist contusion. As noted by MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer, manager Scott Servais told reporters after the game that x-rays on Garver’s wrist came back negative, but that the club doesn’t plan on making a decision about next steps regarding the 33-year-old until Tuesday given the club has tomorrow off.
Garver came to the Mariners on a two-year, $26MM deal over the offseason. The longtime catcher had gradually seen more and more of his time come at DH during his tenure with the Rangers and joined Seattle ticketed for a regular role at DH while occasionally spelling Raleigh behind the plate as well. Things haven’t exactly gone according to plan for Garver half a season into his Mariners tenure, however, as he’s slashed just .172/.291/.353 in 71 games this year. While he’s hit for decent power and walked at an excellent 13.5% clip, the combination of a massive 30.9% strikeout rate and his deflated .214 BABIP have left him below average overall with a wRC+ of just 90. That’s certainly passable production from a catcher, but far more is to be expected from a player who is essentially being paid to be a full-time DH.
The potential injury comes as a particularly frustrating time for the Mariners as Garver had begun to heat up in the month of June. In 91 trips to the plate this month entering play tonight, Garver had slashed a much more palatable .187/.319/.453 with a 122 wRC+. That improved production is generally backed up by solid peripherals, as well; Garver’s strikeout rate, while still elevated, has dipped to a more manageable 28.6% this month, and he’s walked at an enormous 16.5% clip. A BABIP of just .200 suggests that further positive regression could be in store for Garver, though it now seems possible that will have to wait depending on how much his wrist heals in the coming days.
Even in the event that Garver requires only a few days off, it’s possible the Mariners will look to make some sort of short-term roster move. After all, he and Raleigh are the only two catchers on the club’s active roster, meaning the club could be forced into a tough situation if Raleigh were to get hurt while Garver is down. The Mariners have Seby Zavala and Michael Perez as depth catching options at Triple-A, though neither is currently on the club’s 40-man roster.
In more positive Mariners news, a pair of key relievers appear to be making their way towards a return to action. Adam Jude of The Seattle Times relayed recently that, according to GM Justin Hollander, right-hander Gregory Santos is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday. Meanwhile, MLB.com’s Injury Tracker notes that lefty Gabe Speier is set to throw a bullpen session that same day.
The impending return of the two hurlers is excellent news for the Mariners. Santos, in particular, figured to handle late-inning duties for the club alongside closer Andres Munoz and veteran set-up man Ryne Stanek after the club swung a trade with the White Sox to acquire him just before the start of Spring Training. Unfortunately, that deal has yet to bear fruit as Santos has been sidelined the entire season to this point after suffering a lat strain in mid-March. He could prove to be an impactful arm for the Mariners in leverage situations once healthy enough to take the mound in the big leagues, however, as shown by his 3.39 ERA and 2.65 FIP in 66 1/3 innings of work with Chicago last year.
As for Speier, the lefty has missed the past month with rotator cuff issues but was in the midst of a frustrating 2024 season prior to his injury. In 22 appearances with Seattle this year, the lefty has struggled to a 6.06 ERA in spite of peripheral numbers that remain mostly solid. Speier has struck out a strong 29.3% of batters faced this year but has dealt with some poor fortune on batted balls and sequencing, as demonstrated by an elevated .325 BABIP allowed and an unsustainable strand rate of just 61.3%, far below the typical 70-75% range for the average hurler.
Not all of Speier’s struggles have been self-inflicted, of course; the lefty has allowed free passes at a worrying 13.3% clip this year, a massive change from the 5.1% walk rate he posted with the Mariners last season when he posted a 3.79 ERA and 3.35 FIP in 69 games. The Mariners will surely be hoping that’s the version of Speier they get back once he’s healthy enough to return, which MLB.com suggests is unlikely to be until after the All Star break.
Gabe Speier keeps popping up here and there. He was involved in some pretty big trades. Cespedes, Porcello, Maybin, Miller, Swanson…..
He was a part of 2 notable trades. He was packaged with Cespedes for Porcello. He was packaged with Miller in the Swanson trade. The trade for Maybin wasn’t very noteworthy.
But yes 2 of the trades he was a part of were definitely big moves.
Anyone heard any news out of Seattle lately?
Yeah, we still can’t hit a lick.
Hitless in seattle
Swingandmiss in Seattle.
Our pitching is great… our batting is not.
I don’t care how useless people think batting average is, hitting below .200 should not be acceptable, neither should a player “getting hot” with an average under .200.
I agree. Hopefully it’s part of the natural ebbs and flows of baseball periods. The mean batting average is still higher now than during the 19 years of the deadball era when it was .239. Teams only averaged 3.4 runs per game then, too, so still not quite as terrible (but not excusing the poor current state of offense either).
Right now, it is what it is. It’s not the most exciting brand of baseball and, unfortunately, a .187/.319/.453 triple slash is solidly above average. The deadball era ended and the game became exciting once again, so fingers crossed that another bad offensive era ends sooner than later.
Glad others can see this too. I guess the issue is that batting averages fluctuate year to year but having a sound approach will lead to good results more often than not when you have batted ball luck. However, is that really the case? Some guys like Kwan and Arraez have a different approach than hitters who care about launch angle and three true outcome guys. A walk can’t score a runner from second base so they aren’t equal. That myth needs to be dispelled. All it does is get a guy on and keep the inning going. But if your best hitter constantly walks and you have slugs batting after him grounding into dp’s, where’s the value?
Watching every game in June you’d think he’s just as cold as ever.
The HRs started to come, otherwise I agree. The offense as a whole has been pathetic (even more so) recently.
Why below .200? Why not .205? .210?
As a White Sox fan, I really like Gregory Santos. I hope he can nail it down for the Mariners and help them beat Houston for the division. Good luck Seattle to you and your fans!
It’s kind of funny how coming into the year Servais said that if garver appeared in more than 3 games at catcher then something is wrong
Something is wrong when your batting average is well below .200 and it’s gotten to the point where they have to use him at catcher to get some actual value out of him
It’s not just t mobile park I swear
He’s hitting 138 at home and killing it on road at 196.
Regarding Santos finally getting healthy enough to join the team is like making a mid-season trade for him except the trade was done in the spring. It might work out for the M’s anyway. Having him for the latter “half”/part of the season is more important especially since the team will be fighting to hold on to 1st place.
then again, all the more pressure on that trade to do well, considering they gave up offseason trade price to get santos. not sure how deloach or berroa have done to this point but
He was strike in the wrist.
Not to keep picking on you, Nick, as the lack of an editor means all writers make mistakes. I should know, I’ve been writing for a long time. That said, you write that not all of his struggles have been self-inflicted, then you go on to mention something self-inflicted (walks), leaving us waiting for the part that hasn’t been self-inflicted.
Trying to understand how Garver is doing better lately. Last five games,2 for 15 at bats. Average of .13333
1 walk. 9 strikeouts.
Unless I am reading wrong this is horrible.
We have to have better minor league options for this. Mariners have made bad signings in past but this might be the worst when done.
“Trying to understand”..From what I’ve seen, the Mariner’s Jerry Dipoto definitely has an excellent(scouting)eye for young pitching talent. Position players? Not so much. When Dipoto brought in Kolten Wong as a second base “upgrade” I knew he had little clue on Position players. We’re about to find out if a team can win in the playoffs with elite pitching and virtually no consistent hitting.
At the rate way things are going, there will be no playoffs. They have lost most of thier ground now. If the don’t win division I don’t think wildcard team will come out of west.
I agree..his record speaks for itself.
Deeds continues to be incompetent. There should never be a comma before “as well.” This kid proves again and again that he does not understand basic punctuation rules.