Mitch Garver Bio
Mitchell Lynn Garver is an American professional baseball catcher and designated hitter who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, and Seattle Mariners, and he helped the Rangers win the 2023 World Series. Garver made his MLB debut in 2017 and earned a Silver Slugger Award in 2019. Over the course of his career, he has been recognized for his plate discipline, his power at the plate, and his role in popularizing the one-knee-down catching stance.
Early Life and Background
Mitchell Lynn Garver was born on January 15, 1991, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He attended La Cueva High School in Albuquerque, where he caught for the school baseball team and also played soccer. As a center back for the soccer team, Garver showed enough talent that his coach suggested he move to England to further pursue soccer, but Garver, who preferred baseball, declined the offer. In 2008, as a junior, he helped both the soccer and baseball teams win state championships.
The following year, Garver was named the Albuquerque Public Schools Male Athlete of the Year and earned all-state and honorable mention All-American honors in baseball. He batted .521 with 10 home runs as a senior. That performance drew the attention of college scouts and set the stage for his entry into collegiate baseball.
Path to Professional Baseball
Garver attended the University of New Mexico, where he walked on to the Lobos college baseball team. In the summers of 2010 and 2011, he played for the St. Cloud River Bats of the Northwoods League. As a junior in 2012, he was named co-Mountain West Conference Player of the Year alongside teammate D. J. Peterson and earned second-team All-American honors from Louisville Slugger. That summer, Garver and Peterson played for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod Baseball League, where Garver was a league all-star.
In 2013, Garver and Peterson repeated as co-conference players of the year, and Garver set a Lobos record by starting 181 consecutive games. The Minnesota Twins selected him in the ninth round of the 2013 MLB Draft, and he signed for a $40,000 bonus. He then spent the next three and a half years moving through the Twins’ minor league system.
Mitch Garver Career
Early Career (2013–2017)
After signing with the Twins, Garver played for the Elizabethton Twins in 2013, batting .243 in 56 games. In 2014, he joined the Cedar Rapids Kernels and posted a .245 average with 16 home runs and 79 RBI. He spent 2015 with the Fort Myers Miracle, batting .245 with a team-high 69 walks, and then played in the Arizona Fall League for the Scottsdale Scorpions.
In 2016, Garver played for the Chattanooga Lookouts and was promoted to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, combining to hit .270 with 11 home runs and 66 RBI. The Twins added him to their 40-man roster that November to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. He returned to Rochester in 2017 and batted .291 with 17 home runs in 88 games, earning his promotion to the major leagues.
Minnesota Twins (2017–2021)
The Twins promoted Garver to the majors on August 18, 2017, and he made his MLB debut the next day as a pinch hitter. He collected his first MLB hit on August 20, an infield single off Braden Shipley of the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 23 games that season, he batted .196 with three RBIs. In 2018, Garver became the Twins’ primary catcher by mid-May and hit his first career home run on April 5. He batted .268 with seven home runs in 103 games, including 82 starts behind the plate.
Garver had a breakout year in 2019 despite injuries. On May 14, he suffered a left high ankle sprain after a home plate collision with Shohei Ohtani, but he had earlier hit a home run that created the 4–3 lead he was protecting with the tag. He returned in June and finished the season with 31 home runs and 67 RBI in 311 at bats, winning the American League Silver Slugger Award for catchers. He went 2-for-12 in the ALDS, which the Twins lost in three games. He was limited to 23 games in the shortened 2020 season by a right intercostal strain and batted .167. In 2021, he rebounded to hit .256 with 13 home runs in 68 games, and on July 27, 2021, he and Detroit Tigers catcher Eric Haase both hit grand slams in the same game, the first time opposing catchers had accomplished that in MLB history.
Texas Rangers (2022–2023)
On March 12, 2022, the Twins traded Garver to the Texas Rangers for Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronny Henriquez. He was used primarily as a designated hitter in 2022, catching only a handful of games. In 54 games, he hit .207 with 10 home runs and 24 RBI before undergoing surgery in July to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right forearm, which ended his season.
Garver and the Rangers bounced back in 2023. A left knee sprain kept him out from April 10 to June 2, but he returned to hit .270 with 19 home runs during the regular season. In the playoffs, he hit a grand slam in an 11–8 win over the Baltimore Orioles in Game 2 of the ALDS and added two more hits in Game 3 to help Texas sweep the series. He started every game of the ALCS, homering in Game 6 as the Rangers avoided elimination. Garver and the Rangers went on to win the 2023 World Series, though he managed just one single and one walk in 22 plate appearances in the Fall Classic. He elected free agency on November 2, 2023.
Seattle Mariners (2024–2025)
On December 28, 2023, Garver signed a two-year, $24 million contract with the Seattle Mariners that included a mutual $12 million option for 2026. He was tabbed as the team’s primary designated hitter before the 2024 season, though he caught 24 games backing up Cal Raleigh. On April 29, he hit a walk-off home run, and he played in a career-best 114 games. However, he struggled offensively, batting .172 with a career-high 133 strikeouts, and publicly acknowledged receiving insults and death threats from frustrated fans.
In 2025, Garver served as a backup catcher and part-time DH. He batted .209 with nine home runs, 30 RBI, and a career-high three stolen bases in 87 games. He hit a pinch-hit triple in Game 2 of the ALCS, only his second triple since May 2019, and went 2-for-7 in the postseason. On November 3, the Mariners declined his mutual option, and he became a free agent.
Driving Style and Strengths
Garver is widely regarded as a patient, disciplined hitter who has been among MLB’s best at not swinging at pitches outside the strike zone and at drawing walks. In his best seasons, he paired that approach with above-average power, posting an isolated slugging percentage above .230 in three seasons. He is also a modern adopter of catching with one knee on the ground, a stance he switched to in 2019 after working with coaches Bill Evers and Tanner Swanson to improve his pitch framing on low strikes. By 2024, around 90 percent of MLB catchers were using a similar one-knee-down stance.
Notable Events and Milestones
Among Garver’s signature moments are his 2019 home run and tag of Shohei Ohtani at the plate, his 2019 AL Silver Slugger Award, the July 27, 2021 game in which he and Eric Haase became the first opposing catchers to hit grand slams in the same MLB game, his 2023 ALDS grand slam against Baltimore, and his role on the 2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers.
Mitch Garver Career Wins
Mitch Garver’s most prominent team accomplishment is the 2023 World Series championship with the Texas Rangers. He also won the 2019 American League Silver Slugger Award for catchers while with the Minnesota Twins, recognizing his breakout 31-home-run season. Throughout his MLB career, he has been a productive offensive contributor at both catcher and designated hitter.
Major League Highlights
Garver’s first major individual honor came with the 2019 Silver Slugger Award after hitting 31 home runs for the Twins. His most recent major accomplishment is the 2023 World Series title with the Rangers, in which he played every game of the ALCS and contributed key playoff moments, including an ALDS grand slam.
Other Wins and Performances
Before his MLB career, Garver earned co-Mountain West Conference Player of the Year honors in both 2012 and 2013 at the University of New Mexico, was a Cape Cod Baseball League all-star in 2012, and helped La Cueva High School win state championships in soccer and baseball. He also set a University of New Mexico record by starting 181 consecutive games for the Lobos.
Mitch Garver Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Garver grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and attended La Cueva High School, where he was a multi-sport standout in both baseball and soccer. His high school soccer coach was influential enough to suggest he pursue soccer abroad, but Garver chose to focus on baseball.
Personal Life
Garver met his wife during their sophomore year of high school. She is a veterinarian who earned her veterinary degree from Oregon State University in 2018. The couple’s first child was born on July 22, 2021, and their second child was born on December 27, 2023, shortly before Garver signed with the Mariners. The Garvers have two dogs, Chupi and Rip, and in 2021 they established an endowed scholarship at Oregon State in memory of a late boxer named Benny who died of lymphoma. While with the Twins in 2020, OMNI Brewing released a beer called “Garv Sauce,” based on one of Garver’s nicknames.
2025 Season Performance
Mitch Garver’s 2025 season with the Seattle Mariners was marked by a return to a reserve role as a backup catcher and part-time designated hitter. He appeared in 87 games and batted .209 with nine home runs, 30 RBI, and a career-high three stolen bases, posting an on-base percentage of .297 and a slugging percentage of .343.
Garver remained a steady veteran presence behind starter Cal Raleigh, sharing catching duties while continuing to serve as a right-handed power option at designated hitter. In the postseason, he delivered a pinch-hit triple in Game 2 of the ALCS, his second triple since May 2019, and finished the playoffs 2-for-7 at the plate.
On November 3, 2025, the Mariners declined the mutual option on Garver’s contract, and he became a free agent heading into the offseason, leaving his next destination open as he evaluates opportunities to continue his MLB career.