NL Injury Notes: Phillies, Mets, Dodgers
When we last checked in on Phillies reliever David Robertson four weeks ago, he was hoping to return from a right flexor strain by the end of this month. That isn’t going to happen, though. While Robertson is advancing in his recovery, he’s not “progressing as fast as we all had hoped he would,” manager Gabe Kapler said Saturday (via Matt Gelb of The Athletic). This continues a Murphy’s Law season for Robertson, whose impressive production and durability helped him secure a a two-year, $23MM with the Phillies in free agency last winter. The 34-year-old hasn’t pitched since April 14, though, and in the seven appearances he logged toward the beginning of the season, Robertson gave up four earned runs on eight hits and six walks (with six strikeouts) in 6 2/3 innings. His lack of availability is among the reasons the Phillies could decide to add to their bullpen by Wednesday’s trade deadline.
- The Mets have placed first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith on the injured list with a stress reaction in his left foot, per Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News. It’s unclear how much time Smith will miss, but for now, outfielder Aaron Altherr is up from Triple-A Syracuse to take his place. In what has been an unpleasant season for the Mets, Smith has been a legitimate bright spot. After a couple seasons of subpar major league production, the former high-end prospect has slashed .278/.352/.506 with 10 home runs in 196 plate appearances this year.
- In further unfortunate news for the Mets, injured outfielder Brandon Nimmo is “still a ways away from game action,” manager Mickey Callaway revealed Saturday (via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). Nimmo shouldn’t return for “at least several weeks,” DiComo writes. The 26-year-old hasn’t played in over two months because of a bulging disc in his neck. Before that, Nimmo struggled to follow up on what looked like a breakout 2018 showing. He hit .200/.344/.323 with three HRs in 161 PA prior to landing on the shelf.
- The Dodgers are set to place utilityman Enrique Hernandez on the IL with a left hand issue, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times tweets. It hasn’t been a great year at the plate for Hernandez, who has hit .238/.309/.433 in 356 trips, but he has slugged 16 home runs on the season and been on a tear of late. Hernandez slashed .352/.417/.574 this month. His absence should primarily leave second base to Max Muncy.
- Phillies righty Jerad Eickhoff will begin a rehab assignment during the upcoming week, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays. Biceps tendinitis has kept Eickhoff out of action since June 16. He slumped to a 5.71 ERA/6.51 FIP over 58 1/3 innings as a starter and reliever before his IL stint.
Twins Have Inquired About Robbie Ray
The Diamondbacks are reportedly gearing up to sell by Wednesday’s deadline, which could make left-hander Robbie Ray one of the game’s most popular trade candidates during the next few days. The Twins are among the teams that have inquired about Ray, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets.
On paper, the 27-year-old Ray would be a quality get for the Twins or any other team. He’s a capable starter who’s affordable right now ($6.05MM salary) and controllable via arbitration through next season. One of the majors’ premier strikeout artists dating back to 2016, Ray has fanned a prodigious 11.85 batters per nine this year across 123 innings. At the same time, though, he has issued 4.24 walks per nine, induced ground balls at a mere 38.4 percent clip and allowed home runs on an unappealing 19.1 percent of fly balls. Ray’s control and homer problems have led to a 3.95 ERA/4.27 FIP, which is solid but not excellent.
In terms of bottom-line results, Ray’s not a massive upgrade over any of the Twins’ current complements to top starter Jose Berrios. Kyle Gibson, Jake Odorizzi, Michael Pineda and Martin Perez have posted similar numbers in the run prevention and-or fielding-independent pitching categories. With that said, a Ray acquisition could still make plenty sense for a Minnesota team facing a great deal of uncertainty in its starting staff after the season.
Aside from Berrios, nobody from the Twins’ rotation is a lock to return in 2020. Gibson, Odorizzi and Pineda are pending free agents, while Perez has a $7MM club option (or a $500K buyout). As such, adding Ray could bolster the AL Central-leading Twins’ rotation now while taking care of an offseason need in one fell swoop.
Braves Place Dansby Swanson, Nick Markakis On IL
SATURDAY, 5:28pm: Markakis suffered a fractured wrist and is likely to miss six to eight weeks, according to Burns. While Markakis won’t need surgery, he still won’t return until the middle of September.
12:02pm: The Braves placed both Swanson and Markakis on the 10-day injured list, per Burns. Max Fried takes one roster spot, while Duvall has been recalled to take the other. Swanson’s injury is listed as a right foot contusion, whereas Markakis, as feared, has a fractured right wrist (Twitter links).
FRIDAY: The NL East-leading Braves have seen their advantage over the second-place Nationals dwindle a bit over the past couple weeks. At 61-43, the Braves still own a 5 1/2-game cushion, but it appears their lineup is about to take two notable hits. The club could lose shortstop Dansby Swanson and right fielder Nick Markakis to the injured list, Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution relays (links here).
Swanson injured the base of his heel Tuesday and hasn’t played since. The Braves will make a decision Saturday on a potential IL stint for Swanson, per manager Brian Snitker. The news sounds far worse for Markakis, who took a 91 mph fastball off the left wrist from Phillies southpaw Cole Irvin on Friday. While he Braves wound up winning the game, they probably lost Markakis in the process. He’ll see a doctor Saturday, but Markakis said after the game that “it doesn’t look good,” and Burns writes that Snitker was “pessimistic” about his status.
Both Swanson and Markakis have been solid complements this year to the Braves’ top-tier position players in Ronald Acuna Jr., Freddie Freeman, Josh Donaldson and Ozzie Albies. The 25-year-old Swanson’s on pace for a career season, having hit .265/.330/.468 (104 wRC+) with 17 home runs in 431 plate appearances. Markakis, 35, has posted a similarly effective slash line – .284/.358/.429 (105 wRC+) in 416 PA – with nine HRs.
Part of Markakis’ appeal throughout his career has been his commendable durability. He entered 2019 with six straight campaigns of 155-plus games under his belt, including a full 162-game slate last year, and has come back to appear in all 104 of the Braves’ contests this season. That streak now looks like a sure bet to end.
If the Braves do lose Swanson and Markakis, they could turn to Johan Camargo and-or Charlie Culberson at shortstop. Those two also count among the Braves’ reserve outfield options, as do Matt Joyce and veteran Adam Duvall. A back-to-back 30-home run hitter with the Reds from 2016-17, Duvall’s numbers plummeted during an ’18 campaign divided between Cincinnati and Atlanta. Duvall has spent all of this season at the Triple-A level as a result, but he’s likely to come up to help fill Markakis’ void, David O’Brien of The Athletic tweets.
Markakis’ forthcoming absence could also enable the Braves to work the demoted Ender Inciarte into the mix more often. Inciarte made it clear Thursday he doesn’t want to be traded, and it now looks especially unlikely in light of Markakis’ injury.
Rangers Haven’t “Seriously Engaged” Teams On Danny Santana
Rangers utilityman Danny Santana has been one of the most surprising success stories of the 2019 season. Santana’s career began with a flourish as a member of the Twins in 2014, but he then performed terribly over parts of the next four seasons divided between Minnesota and Atlanta. Booted from the Braves’ 40-man roster last year, Santana caught on with the Rangers on a minor league contract over the winter.
Since the Rangers promoted Santana to the majors in the middle of April, the switch-hitting speedster has slashed .316/.346/.567 (128 wRC+) with 14 home runs, 12 steals and 2.0 fWAR in 281 plate appearances. Despite Santana’s best efforts, including a three-hit, six-RBI showing in a win over the Athletics on Thursday, the Rangers have backslid in recent weeks after looking like contenders for a while. The club’s still a decent 53-51 overall, but at five games behind wild-card position, rallying for a playoff spot probably isn’t realistic.
The Rangers’ place in the standings could influence them to sell by Wednesday’s deadline, and the 28-year-old Santana has come up as a speculative trade candidate. Jon Morosi of MLB.com reported last weekend Santana has drawn interest from other teams, but that’s vague. There was no specification as to whether talks had gotten serious with anyone. Well, now we have an answer. According to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas has “heard from only a few teams” in regards to Santana, and it hasn’t “seriously engaged any club in trade talks” for him.
With the Rangers set to open a new ballpark in 2020, when perhaps they’ll be better equipped to contend, Santana could stay as an important part of their roster going forward. As Wilson notes, although Santana has little third base experience, it’s possible he’ll take over as the Rangers’ starter there next season for Asdrubal Cabrera, who’s set to become a free agent. Otherwise, Santana may continue to function as the Rangers’ version of a Swiss Army knife. Thus far in Texas, he has totaled between five and 35 appearances at all three outfield spots and every infield position but third.
Not only has Santana been terrific at the plate and extraordinarily versatile in the field, but he has done it for a league-minimum salary. Santana also won’t rake in a ton next year via arbitration, and he’ll still be controllable for another season after that.
While Santana’s affordable control counts as a reason to keep him, it could likewise be an argument for the Rangers to cash him in for a rich return during the upcoming week. There’s also the fact that we’ve been down a familiar road with Santana in the past. His stellar rookie-year production came in spite of an ugly K/BB ratio and an unsustainable .405 batting average on balls in play. Santana’s K/BB issues have worsened since then – he has fanned 28.5 percent of the time and drawn walks at a meager 3.9 percent clip – while his BABIP (.401) is once again flying way too close to the sun and sure to plummet.
It’s clearly going to be difficult for Santana to continue to perform anywhere near this well as a hitter. At the same time, though, his Statcast profile shows he has made legitimate strides this season. Santana’s .335 expected weighted on-base average does pale in comparison to his .386 real wOBA, but it’s nothing to scoff at coming from an inexpensive player who can line up all over the diamond. The positives outweigh the negatives in the estimation of the Rangers, who seem content to keep Santana.
Notes & Rumors: Dyson, Romo, Twins, Brewers, Dodgers
There’s “a lot of trade interest” in Diamondbacks outfielder Jarrod Dyson, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. We already know the Cubs are among the teams that have eyed Dyson. It’s not clear, though, whether the Diamondbacks – who are in the wild-card hunt – will trade the 34-year-old. Dyson, who’s in the last season of a two-year, $7.5MM contract, has enjoyed a considerable bounce-back campaign with the bat. He’s still not much of a threat offensively, having hit .250/.332/.360 (83 wRC+) in 298 plate appearances, but the fleet-of-foot Dyson’s exemplary defense-base running combination gives him a high floor and could help someone in the postseason.
- The Twins, continuing their wide-ranging search for relief help, have shown interest in Marlins closer Sergio Romo, Craig Mish of FNTSY Sports Radio tweets. The soft-tossing, 36-year-old Romo has pitched well for the Marlins since he joined them on a $2.5MM guarantee last winter, making him a strong bet to depart by the trade deadline. Romo has recorded a 3.58 ERA/3.89 FIP over 37 2/3 innings, also adding 7.88 K/9, 3.11 BB/9 and 17 saves in 18 opportunities.
- The injury that forced Brewers righty Jhoulys Chacin to the IL on Thursday is a lat strain – not an oblique strain, as was previously believed – per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The Brewers expect Chacin to miss two to four weeks. After back-to-back productive seasons, the 31-year-old has managed an awful 5.79 ERA/5.69 FIP across 88 2/3 innings in 2019. Chacin’s struggles, not to mention his injury, are among the reasons the Brewers could bolster their rotation ahead of the deadline.
- Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told Casey Stern of MLB Network Radio on Friday that Will D. Smith will take the reins as their primary catcher going forward. The Dodgers recalled the well-regarded Smith from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday and sent their previous No. 1 backstop, the slumping Austin Barnes, to the minors. Smith, 24, is now teaming with the grizzled Russell Martin to comprise the Dodgers’ catchers. Martin started LA’s win over Washington on Friday, but the plan is for Smith to handle the Dodgers’ next two games.
- More on the Dodgers, who sent corner infielder David Freese to the IL on Friday with a left hamstring strain. The move made room for just-acquired first baseman Tyler White. It seems especially inauspicious that Freese went to the IL with the same injury just over a month ago. It cost him a minimal amount of time then, but it’s unclear whether that will be the case again. When healthy, the 36-year-old has been one of the Dodgers’ most effective hitters, albeit in a limited role. Through 163 trips to the plate, Freese has slashed a tremendous .300/.399/.579 (157 wRC+) with nine homers.
Latest On Yankees, Marcus Stroman
The Yankees’ pitching staff turned in its latest dud Friday, continuing what has amounted to a week-long series of hideous performances. Dating back to last Sunday’s loss to Colorado, New York has surrendered 64 runs in six games – including a combined 29 in a pair of shellackings in Boston over the past two nights – en route to four defeats.
As you’d expect, the Yankees’ rotation has been a key culprit in its recent run-stopping woes. Starter James Paxton struggled again Friday, yielding seven earned runs on four innings, and likely hasn’t met the Yankees’ expectations this season after coming over from the Mariners in a significant trade last winter. Likewise, the Yankees haven’t gotten enough from a group of Masahiro Tanaka, Domingo German, C.C. Sabathia and J.A. Happ.
Despite an AL-best 66-37 record, the Yankees are very much in the market for rotation help leading up to the July 31 trade deadline. Blue Jays hurler Marcus Stroman has been among the many starters on the Yankees’ radar, though Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported Thursday the Yankees aren’t the leading candidates to acquire him. Similarly, Andy Martino of SNY.tv tweets the Yankees haven’t been the most aggressive team after Stroman. Nevertheless, the two sides are still “in contact” in regards to the right-hander, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets.
The rebuilding, division-rival Blue Jays have predictably aimed high – albeit to a wholly unrealistic extent – in their quest to seek the best possible return for Stroman. During their talks with the Yankees, the Jays have requested middle infielder Gleyber Torres, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports. They’ve also asked for 20-year-old righty Deivi Garcia, the Yankees’ No. 1-ranked prospect.
Surrendering Torres is a nonstarter for the Yankees, who have seen him blossom from high-end prospect to high-end major leaguer since they acquired him from the Cubs in a July 2016 blockbuster. Torres was a Rookie of the Year candidate in 2018 who has gotten even better this season, just his age-22 campaign, having slashed .294/.360/.511 (127 wRC+) with 20 home runs and 2.6 fWAR in 398 plate appearances. As someone who’s not even on track to become eligible for arbitration until after 2020, the Yankees are in position to reap the benefits of Torres’ presence for a long time.
The same could be true in regards to Garcia, though the Yankees have at least reportedly shown a willingness to trade him for Mets righty Noah Syndergaard. However, there’s seemingly less of a chance of the Yankees giving up Garcia for Stroman, in part because he comes with one fewer year of control than Syndergaard. (Speculatively, perhaps the Yankees would be more amenable to sending Garcia to Toronto as part of a package for both Stroman and closer Ken Giles, whom they’ve also eyed.)
Stroman’s on a more-than-fair $7.4MM salary this season and under wraps through next year, so it’s reasonable for Toronto to expect a sizable return for him. It also helps that Stroman’s having a terrific season – better than Syndergaard’s – having put up a 2.96 ERA/3.52 FIP with 7.15 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 56.3 percent groundball rate in 124 2/3 innings. That doesn’t make Stroman worth close to as much as Torres, though, and it may not even be enough for the Yankees to hand over Garcia for him.
Gio Gonzalez Exits With Shoulder Tightness
10:34pm: Gonzalez may have avoided a serious injury. Manager Craig Counsell said after the game, which the Brewers came back to win, that Gonzalez is day-to-day and could make his next start (via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).
10:03pm: The Brewers announced that left-hander Gio Gonzalez exited his start against the Cubs on Friday with shoulder tightness. That’s a potentially ominous development for a Milwaukee club already down two starters, Brandon Woodruff and Jhoulys Chacin, because of injuries.
The 33-year-old Gonzalez only just returned from his own IL stint. Thanks to a dead arm, Gonzalez went from May 27 until July 20 without taking the ball at the major league level. During the eight starts Gonzalez has made this year, including his 6 1/3-inning, two-run performance against the Cubs, he has recorded an effective 3.48 ERA/3.30 FIP with 7.84 K/9, 2.61 BB/9 and a 42.8 percent groundball rate over 41 1/3 innings.
The Brewers couldn’t have realistically expected the type of results they’ve received from Gonzalez on a per-inning basis when they signed him in late April. That came after an odd several months for Gonzalez, who – despite years of quality work with the Athletics and Nationals – was unable to find a guaranteed contract in the offseason. Gonzalez instead settled for a minor league deal with the Yankees toward the end of March, ultimately opting out of it to take a better opportunity in Milwaukee.
As of this writing, the Brewers are trailing the Cubs, 2-1, in the eighth inning of the NL Central rivals’ hugely important matchup. First-place Chicago entered this weekend’s three-game set with a two-game lead over Milwaukee, which is 1 1/2 back of wild-card position. General manager David Stearns suggested earlier this week the loss of Woodruff’s unlikely to affect the Brewers’ plans heading into the July 31 trade deadline. However, the team appeared as if it needed starting help even before Woodruff suffered an oblique strain that will keep him out several weeks, and that will become all the more obvious if it sees Gonzalez join him and Chacin on the shelf.
Giants Rumors: Sogard, Watson, Cardinals
The Giants’ surge up the standings this month has turned them from surefire trade deadline sellers to potential buyers. To that end, the Giants have “inquired” about Blue Jays infielder Eric Sogard, Jon Morosi of MLB.com tweets.
Considering the 33-year-old Sogard is a pending free agent, acquiring him would be a win-now move by the Giants, who have climbed to 52-51 and within 3 1/2 of a wild-card spot. Sogard is primarily a second baseman – a position that has that has been problematic this season for San Francisco. Main Giants option Joe Panik has struggled to a .235/.309/.317 line with a 69 wRC+ and three home runs over 369 plate appearances. Sogard, meanwhile, has slashed a far superior .299/.363/.480 (124 wRC+) with 10 HRs in 317 trips to the plate.
As MLBTR’s Jeff Todd explained a couple weeks ago, Sogard’s production doesn’t look sustainable – especially factoring in that he has seldom approached it over a career consisting of 2,000-plus trips to the plate. Nevertheless, Sogard’s 2019 offensive output, defensive versatility and league-minimum salary should make it easy to for rebuilding Toronto to find a taker in the next few days.
Whether the Giants should buy Sogard or anyone else is up for debate, depending on how much you’re convinced of their sudden brilliance. If the club goes the other way by the 31st, it still has several useful trade chips it could unload, including reliever Tony Watson. The Cardinals, who are seeking another left-hander for their bullpen, have done their “due diligence” on Watson, according to Mark Saxon of The Athletic. However, the Redbirds are leery of the escalator clauses in his contract, per Saxon.
Watson’s current salary has skyrocketed from a guaranteed $3.5MM to $8.5MM with the help of incentives, and it could increase to $10.5MM if he accrues 50 appearances. That seems inevitable for the 34-year-old, who has already piled up 44 this season. Along the way, the typically reliable Watson has thrown 41 innings and pitched to a 2.85 ERA (with a much less dominant 4.20 FIP) while posting 6.8 K/9, 1.1 BB/9 and a 46.9 percent groundball rate.
Regardless of whether Watson finishes the season in San Francisco or elsewhere, a trip to free agency looks probable for the winter. Watson’s pact features a $2.5MM club option for 2020, though it’s likely he’ll turn that down in favor of a $500K buyout. Meantime, it’s iffy at best the Giants will trade Watson, let alone to a wild card-leading Cardinals team they’re trying to chase down.
Latest On Marlins’ Trevor Richards
Marlins right-hander Trevor Richards has surfaced as a trade candidate in advance of next week’s deadline, but he’s now changing roles. Richards will shift to the Marlins’ bullpen, and fellow righty Elieser Hernandez will take his spot in the Marlins’ rotation, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com relays. That could make Richards more expendable to the Fish, as Frisaro writes that he’s “the primary candidate to be dealt” among their starting options.
Richards’ most recent start, a loss to the White Sox this past Monday, didn’t go well. Although he notched seven strikeouts against one walk, the 26-year-old yielded seven earned runs on seven hits (two home runs) over five innings. Richards has now gone seven straight starts of fewer than six innings, which reflects the difficulty he has encountered against opposing lineups the more they’ve seen him.
While Richards has held enemy teams to a .310 weighted on-base average the first time through the order and a .279 wOBA the second trip, they’ve smashed him for a .416 mark during the third go-around. Based on that, perhaps Richards is better suited for a bullpen job, though as someone who only averages 91 mph on his fastball, he doesn’t look like an intimidating late-game presence in the making.
Despite his recent struggles as a starter, Richards has largely been a usable back-end arm since he made his major league debut a year ago. He entered Friday with 109 innings of 4.62 ERA/4.78 FIP pitching, 8.26 K/9, 4.05 BB/9 and a 35.4 percent groundball rate this season.
Frankly, there’s little to nothing worth getting excited about over “a usable back-end arm.” But the fact that Richards is making the league minimum this season and still has two years of pre-arbitration control left could appeal to a team looking to fill out the end of its starting staff or its bullpen on the cheap. Should Richards stay in Miami past the deadline, it’s “likely” he’ll work as a reliever for the foreseeable future, Frisaro suggests. He threw a scoreless, two-strikeout inning out of the Marlins’ bullpen in a win over the Diamondbacks on Friday.
Mitch Garver’s Quietly Great Season
The Twins entered play Friday with the majors’ most home runs, second-best wRC+ and third-most runs, all of which helps explain their 62-40 record and two-game lead in the American League Central. The likes of Nelson Cruz (who swatted three homers Thursday), Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler are among Twins position players who get the lion’s share of attention, but there’s a case that a little-known catcher has been their premier offensive contributor on a per-plate appearance basis this season. That backstop didn’t join the Twins as a high draft pick, nor was he an elite prospect coming through their system.
The Twins selected Mitch Garver out of the University of New Mexico in the ninth round of the 2013 draft. At his best, Garver rose to a 17th-place rating in Minnesota’s farm, according to Baseball America, which placed him there after the 2016 season. Back then, BA described Garver as a “steady offensive player” with questionable (albeit improving) defense.
Garver debuted in the majors in 2017, though he only collected 52 plate appearances, before turning into a regular option last year. He was a fine offensive performer then, slashing .268/.335/.414 (102 wRC+) with seven home runs in 335 trips to the plate, but Garver was simultaneously among the worst defensive backstops in baseball. One year later, though, Garver has quietly evolved into one of the sport’s top all-around catchers.
Sharing time with fellow 2019 standout Jason Castro, the 28-year-old Garver has batted a phenomenal .291/.378/.646 with a prodigious 19 homers in just 217 PA. Among hitters who have amassed 200 or more PA this season, Garver ranks fourth in wRC+ (162). Who’s ahead of him? The MVP-caliber group of Mike Trout, Christian Yelich and Cody Bellinger. Meanwhile, Garver has totaled 2.6 fWAR, which ranks fourth at his position behind Yasmani Grandal, J.T. Realmuto and Christian Vazquez.
There are ways to somewhat pooh-pooh Garver’s superlative production at the dish. He’s not going to maintain a .354 ISO, for instance, and despite owning one of the majors’ highest fly ball rates (47.8 percent), Garver’s 29.2 percent HR-to-FB rate isn’t going to last. Moreover, Statcast indicates his .422 weighted on-base average is bound to fall. Other than that, however, negatives are few and far between when it comes to Garver’s offensive game.
The righty-swinging Garver has crushed same- and left-handed pitchers alike. His 10.6 percent walk rate is above average, and even though he has been a tremendous power hitter in 2019, Garver hasn’t struck out at an untenable rate. His 24.9 percent strikeout rate is below average, though it’s not awful, and his chase, swing, in-zone contact and swinging-strike percentages are all either a bit better than most players’ or vastly superior. Likewise, Garver’s exit velocity, hard-hit rate, expected slugging percentage and expected wOBA are all near the top of the league, per Statcast, which credits him with a .365 xwOBA. Garver’s just below Alex Bregman in that category. Not bad, especially for a catcher. Garver’s excellence has largely stemmed from an ability to pulverize fastballs – FanGraphs ranks him among the game’s most effective hitters versus heaters, while Statcast indicates he has posted a .533 wOBA/.446 xwOBA against them.
Of course, one of the key elements to catching is playing defense, which had been a sore spot for Garver in the past. That hasn’t been the case this year. Not only has Garver thrown out a solid 6 of 18 would-be base stealers, but he has enjoyed a turnaround in the all-important pitch-framing department. Just 15 catchers have outdone Garver in that regard, says StatCorner.
When it comes to underrated players who have significantly impacted the standings thus far, Garver no doubt ranks near the apex of the league. And with Castro set to hit free agency after the season, perhaps Garver is close to assuming the reins as the Twins’ full-time catcher. With four years left of control remaining after 2019, Garver will have plenty more time to continue putting his name on the map in Minnesota. So far, he’s doing a pretty good job.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.