Why Mariners’ Mitch Garver as catcher clicked with George Kirby

There’s a pretty clear mark of change in the 2024 season of Seattle Mariners pitcher George Kirby.

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Over Kirby’s first 11 starts last year, he had an uncharacteristic 4.33 ERA, and over the last four games of that stretch he gave up seven home runs. But in his next 12 starts, he allowed just two home runs while putting up a 1.95 ERA. In fact, he didn’t allow a home run in 11 of the games during that 12-game stretch.

The turning point: May 29 against the Houston Astros. And a key difference there: Mitch Garver behind the plate.

Garver entered last season as Seattle’s primary designated hitter, but he found himself back at his natural position of catcher two months in. He began more or less as Kirby’s personal backstop, though he would catch more of the Mariners’ pitchers as the season went on. It’s clear something clicked with Garver and Kirby, however.

With Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob down at Mariners spring training in Peoria, Ariz., this week, they caught up with Garver and dug into why he made such an effective battery with Kirby.

“When I started catching again, George was having kind of a tough time,” said the 34-year-old Garver. “He couldn’t leave the strike zone, wasn’t getting the swing and misses that he really needed, I think he got banged up for a few starts. So when I went in there, first game we started was against Houston, obviously threw a really great game. I think he punched out six or seven, got through six (innings), gave us a chance to win the game.”

Pretty good memory for Garver there. The exact line for Kirby during that 2-1 win over the Astros on May 29: six innings, six hits, one earned run, eight strikeouts, no walks.

Garver told Kirby right away they were going to do something different.

“I’m like, ‘George, I’m gonna go down in the tunnel where you sit in between innings and we’re gonna talk.’ Because that’s something he doesn’t really do,” Garver continued. “And I was like, ‘I’m gonna go down there and we’re gonna be like, hey, these are your next three hitters – bang, bang, bang, we go over them. We talk about the next inning. We talk about the previous inning. Say, hey, this worked, this looked good, let’s run this out for a little while.’ You know, whatever it may be.

“I think that line of communication helped him a little bit. It was like, we’re going to talk about things in the middle of the game. That’s how you learn who they are as a pitcher, that’s how you learn what they can and can’t do.”

Kirby is known for his elite strike-throwing ability, which is rare especially for a pitcher who can reach the upper 90s with his fastball. He led MLB with 1.08 walks per nine innings, which was 0.23 less than the next pitcher, and 7.78 strikeouts to walks, which was over a full strikeout better than No. 2 (who was American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal).

That ability to throw so many strikes can result in more contact than desired, however, but it’s also something that Garver said allowed him to be creative in calling games.

“He can throw any pitch in any location, and that’s what makes him special,” Garver said. “So it’s like you really have to be a catcher with an imagination and go out there and push the limits on what this guy can do. And he can do anything.”

Hear the full Wyman and Bob conversation with Seattle Mariners catcher Mitch Garver in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post.

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