Having studied a Seattle great, Garver to play key roles for Mariners

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SEATTLE -- When new Mariners slugger Mitch Garver was transitioning into a full-time designated hitter role last year en route to helping the Rangers win the World Series title, he drew upon knowledge gleaned from one of the best of his era at the position.

“I learned a lot from Nelson Cruz," Garver told reporters last week. “He's probably one of the best DH's out there, and being able to play alongside him and then on the other side of the field from him as well, I learned a lot from him. A lot of the things that I do now are just from watching him behind the scenes, and I'm able to add that into my own game.”

Garver, who was introduced by the Mariners after signing a two-year, $24 million contract, played with Cruz for parts of three seasons (2019-21) in Minnesota, where Cruz landed after a four-year stint in Seattle.

“It’s not an easy position to do,” said Garver, who transitioned from catcher to DH full-time late last season and throughout the playoffs. “But when I got into a consistent routine on how to do it, I became a little bit better at it.

“The last few months where I really didn’t have too much of a chance to get into the game catching, I still felt very involved. I was involved in the scouting reports, I was involved in the game-calling, I was involved in the mid-game adjustments and the reviews that you do after the game.”

Garver’s situation with the 2023 Rangers, who had All-Star Jonah Heim behind the dish, is nearly a carbon-copy of what he’ll fulfill moving forward with the Mariners, who have Cal Raleigh as their primary backstop.

“I always felt very obligated to be alongside Jonah, and we talked about the game as it’s going on,” Garver said of moving into a role that can be taxing for its lack of game rhythm. “And we talked about adjustments that we might need to make or things that we see happening. And I think I have that experience that I can bring to this team.”

Despite entering just his third full season, Raleigh has been praised by coaches -- and perhaps more tellingly, his pitchers -- for overseeing a big league staff. But Raleigh also credited veteran Tom Murphy for much of his acumen in this area during his early development. With Murphy now gone, having signed a two-year, $8 million deal with the Giants, the Mariners will also lean on Garver to fill a valuable veteran presence within a clubhouse that at times lacked it last season.

“Cal is a great catcher himself, and he’s got a few years under his belt,” Garver said, adding that Raleigh has already reached out. “But I do feel like the way that I’ve learned how to scout guys and everyone and how to scout myself, it kind of brings a different perspective on how teams can approach the opposing team.”

Moreover, Garver fills a role that the Mariners have largely avoided pinning to a full-time player since Cruz departed after 2018. The club entered each of the past two seasons intending on a rotation of sorts among everyday players at DH -- which was well-received among players -- but for whatever reasons, Seattle had among the worst production at the position in that stretch.

President of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and general manager Justin Hollander weren’t wedded to signing a full-time DH at the offseason’s outset, but they viewed Garver as an ideal fit -- particularly as they try to reimagine an offense that struck out more often than all but one team last year.

“He’s a proven winner who brings a strong combination of zone discipline, on-base skills and power to the middle of our lineup, while also adding tough-to-find depth at key positions,” Dipoto said.

Garver’s 23.8% K rate ranked in the 36th percentile last year, per Statcast, but his 17.4% chase rate was in the 98th and his 12.8% walk rate was in the 90th.

“At the beginning of the free-agency process, they were a team that seemed the most aggressive,” Garver said. “They were one of the early teams to call, and the way they presented it and how they saw me as a player made me feel really valued. There were other teams that were kind of in the race toward the end, but it was the Mariners that put themselves forward.”