Mitch Garver has retired after 10 major-league seasons, he told MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer on Thursday, Oct. 22.
For Rangers fans, the lasting image is a ground ball through the middle of the infield. Garver’s seventh-inning RBI single broke a scoreless tie in Game 5 of the 2023 World Series. Texas won 5-0 at Arizona’s Chase Field on Nov. 1, securing the championship.
That swing is the simplest way to remember his time in Texas. But his contribution was larger than one postseason at-bat.
In 87 regular-season games in 2023, Garver hit .270 with 19 home runs and 50 RBIs. He reached base at a .370 rate and slugged .500, an .870 OPS, according to MLB’s Baseball Savant statistics. His 44 walks helped make him more than a home-run-or-nothing threat.
Those numbers marked a substantial jump from his first Texas season. In 2022, he played 54 games, hit .207 and finished with 10 home runs and a .702 OPS. The following year brought more playing time and much more production.
