Another set of unfortunate news has hit the Seattle Mariners: their head coach shed tears as four of his star players made the decision to terminate their huge contracts.
The Seattle Mariners have received more bad news: four of their finest players decided to end their enormous contracts, causing their head coach to cry.
Mitch Garver was supposed to give up his catcher’s gear and become the Seattle Mariners‘ primary designated hitter when he signed a two-year contract this offseason.
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Over his previous seven seasons with the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers, Garver was predominantly a catcher, although he had been limited by a number of ailments. It was thought that by starting him as the main designated hitter, the 33-year-old veteran would remain healthy.
But the Mariners made the decision to change things up after Garver had trouble at the plate during the first two months of this season. Seattle has Garver behind the dish for each of George Kirby’s last four starts. Garver is currently Seattle’s backup catcher after Seby Zavala was designated for assignment on Tuesday.
Garver’s offensive output has improved during this procedure. Before making his catching debut for the season on May 29, Garver was hitting just.171 in 46 games with five home runs and a.601 OPS. In 16 games played since then, he is batting.204 with three home runs and a.840 OPS.
Is there any truth to the theory that a hitter who plays catch gets to stay more engaged in the game?
Pierzynski recalled, “The first few times I did it, I was like, ‘This sucks, man.'” Because you’re not really participating in the game, it seemed like you were getting four pinch hits in a game, which is the toughest thing in the world to achieve.
You then begin attempting to determine how to continue playing the game. Do you take pitches during at-bats? Do you go for runs on the treadmill? Do you ride a bike? Do you perform push-ups? Are you a beer-drinker? Whatever it takes to prepare you for the upcoming batted ball game. And I did try everything, I promise. And the one thing I did discover is that you have to try something new each time because it never seems to work.
Garver is 0 for 12 in the four games he has caught this season, showing no progress at the bat. However, there was a noticeable difference in his offensive splits between games as the designated hitter and games when he caught during his Texas season.
Garver batted.347 last year in 28 games as a catcher with eight home runs and a 1.100 OPS. As a DH, he hit.234 with 11 home runs and a.768 OPS in 57 games.
“He’s been swinging it since he started catching that one game for George Kirby every week. Thus, perhaps the Mariners and manager Scott Servais have worked things out.
