The Mariners have run out of excuses to stick with Mitch Garver

Even as recently as a few weeks ago, there was ample hope that Mitch Garver's two-year, $24 million contract would prove to be a wise investment for the Seattle Mariners. He was red-hot during spring training, batting .333 with a 1.058 OPS.

It has unfortunately been all downhill for the 34-year-old catcher since then, culminating in a moment on Tuesday that typifies why the Mariners need to consider moving on.

It was in the top of the eighth inning when Dan Wilson called on Garver to pinch hit for Jorge Polanco, with the bases loaded, one out, and the Chicago White Sox leading 1-0. The move was necessitated by the switch-hitting Polanco's inability to hit right-handed because of a nagging side injury, but it also set the righty-hitting Garver up for the platoon advantage against lefty-throwing reliever Cam Booser. The matchup was in Garver's favor.

Instead, Garver worked the count to 3-2 before taking a hittable breaking ball in the zone for strike three. The Mariners ended up leaving the bases loaded and losing the game.

The Mariners have run out of ways to jumpstart Mitch Garver's bat

It was hard to sugarcoat Garver's debut season in Seattle in 2024. He did play in a career-high 114 games, but he also slashed just .172/.286/.341 to result in a 243-point drop in his OPS from 2023 to 2024. By WAR, it was the worst year of his career.

As baffling as it sounds, it's even harder to sugarcoat the season Garver is having in 2025.

It's certainly a positive that his OBP has shot up to .352, but that is undercut by a decline in his slugging percentage to .274. He only has one home run, and even that was off a position player amid a 14-0 blowout over the Miami Marlins on April 26.

Garver's .626 OPS is ultimately a mirror image of the .627 OPS he had last year, and this is even though the Booser at-bat was a variation on a theme that should, by all rights, be boosting his production.

So far in 2025, a career-high 61.8 percent of all the pitches Garver has seen have been from left-handed pitchers. This is about as extreme as platoon assignments get, and it's a good idea in the abstract. He has traditionally done his best work opposite southpaws, with a .843 OPS against them compared to a .744 OPS against righties.

Yet it's just not working. Garver only has a .634 OPS vs. lefties this year, with 14 of his 23 strikeouts.

To be fair, there are some things under the hood that help redeem Garver's 2025 season. He has done solid work defensively, particularly with blocking and throwing. He's also hitting the ball hard, as his average exit velocity of 92.5 mph is actually a career high.

But when it comes down to it, this is shaping up to be his second straight year as a replacement-level reserve catcher. It's past time for the Mariners to think about whether his roster spot would be better used on someone else, even if it meant simply having a better excuse to get Cal Raleigh out of the crouch more consistently.

The most obvious change involves cutting Garver loose and calling up top prospect Harry Ford, who has recently been challenging narratives about his power and defense. He can even play the outfield in a pinch, and his uncommon speed (for a catcher, that is) would allow him to fit right in with an offense that likes to be aggressive on the basepaths.

Whatever the future holds, the Mariners are only getting more excuses to make Garver a part of their past. The swing they took with his contract was well-intentioned, but there's simply nothing more than they can do to salvage it.