Twins call up Mitch Garver

During last night’s game, Robbie Grossman and Byron Buxton had a mild collision in the outfield which resulted in Buxton actually catching the ball (duh) and Grossman being removed from the game with an injury. We later learned that Grossman had a fractured thumb. I instantly thought, “Zack Granite is coming back.” It turns out the Twins went another direction, however, and called up Mitch Garver.

Brandon Warne over at Zone Coverage figured this out because Garver’s college baseball coach tweeted the following:

You may think it’s weird to call up a catcher to replace an outfielder/DH, but Garver has actually started 14 games in the outfield this season at Triple-A, despite never having played the position at lower levels. Through 88 games total this season the right-hander is hitting .291/.387/.541 with 17 home runs, which is pretty good. So it’s really not that surprising for Garver to get the call, especially since he was basically guaranteed to be called up once rosters are expanded in September anyway.

Though Garver has a lower OBP than Granite, he offers a bit more pop with the bat, and is an option for behind the plate. After Chris Gimenez’s three passed balls in an inning last weekend, another catching option doesn’t sound too awful.

So congrats to Mitch Garver, who probably won’t have to worry about his bedroom ceiling collapsing on him anymore.