Former Lobo baseball player Mitch Garver was promoted to the Major Leagues by the Minnesota Twins late Thursday night.
Garver was called up to take the place of outfielder Robbie Grossman, who was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a fractured thumb.
So far this season, Garver is hitting .291 behind the plate with a .386 on base percentage and .541 slugging percentage. He has also cranked out 17 home runs and 45 RBI for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, according to baseball-reference.com.
He was drafted by the Twins in the ninth round of the 2013 MLB First Year Player Draft.
In his time with the Lobos, Garver emerged as both an athletic and academic standout. He became just the third player in program history to earn Academic All-Mountain West Honors for four straight seasons.
On the field, he finished his career as one of the best Lobos in the history of the program. In three seasons as the starting catcher, he was a two-time Mountain West Co-Player of the Year, as well as twice being named as one of three finalists for the Johnny Bench award, given annually to the best collegiate catcher in the country.
His senior year was his best season, as he batted .390 with a .458 on base percentage and slugged .589 with 6 home runs and 68 RBI.
As a result he was named Mountain West Co-Player of the Year for the second time, in the process he became the program's all-time Iron Man, starting 181 consecutive games. Garver also had a 26-game hitting streak, which was good for the sixth-longest in program history, according to golobos.com
In his five years in the Twins system, Garver put up solid numbers across the board. In 508 career minor league games he hit .271 and held a .364 on base percentage with a .429 slugging percentage, while posting 51 home runs and 286 RBI.
Catcher has arguably been a very weak position for the Twins, so Garver should have a great opportunity to stick with the major league team. Neither of the two catchers beside him on the team are hitting higher than .225.
Garver got his big league career off to a good start, getting his first hit on an infield single in the bottom of the second in his first start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 20. The Twins started Garver in place of the face of their franchise, Joe Mauer.
The former Lobo is also an Albuquerque native, graduating from La Cueva High School. According to a recent release, Garver is the 10th Lobo alumni to play in the majors, and the fifth to break into MLB in the last five years.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Cameron Goeldner is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He contributes to baseball, football, basketball and track and field reporting. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @goeldfinger.
