Rangers prepare catcher contingency plan after losing All-Star Jonah Heim to wrist sprain
SAN DIEGO — Jonah Heim is going to need surgery.
The Rangers are hopeful it can still be post-season surgery.
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For now, all the Rangers and their All-Star catcher can do is wait to see if swelling and inflammation around the tendon sheath in his left wrist diminishes. After a series of scans and doctor visits Friday, Heim said he was told to wait two to three weeks and then see if he can withstand the pain associated with the strain. If he can, he’ll play through the end of the season and then have surgery. If not, the surgery will end his season.
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In the meantime, he joined Corey Seager on the Rangers’ All-Star studded 10-day injured list. Heim injured the wrist on a swing at Houston on Wednesday. He said he felt a “little pop” on the finish of his swing.
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“I guess it’s the best news we could get in the situation,” Heim said Friday, his wrist in a supportive brace and compression wrap. “If I can handle the pain, I can be out there. I think I have a high tolerance for pain. And when adrenaline kicks in, I’d like to think I will be fine.”
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“We would have liked better news,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “But it could have been worse. We hope in two or three weeks it can be workable.”
In the meantime, it leaves the Rangers with a catching tandem of Mitch Garver, who hasn’t started on back-to-back days behind the plate in the majors since April 28-29, 2022, and Sam Huff, who hasn’t started behind the plate in the majors this year. The Rangers also acquired veteran Kevin Plawecki from San Diego in a minor league trade as insurance. Plawecki, who appeared in three games for the Rangers last year, goes to Triple-A Round Rock.
The Rangers replaced Heim on the 26-man roster with outfielder Bubba Thompson. He is the only position player on the 40-man roster with any previous big-league experience. In a separate move, reliever Josh Sborz was activated from the IL and replaced Owen White, who was returned to the minors.
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The concern now is how the Rangers replicate what they were getting from Heim, who led all MLB catchers in WAR at the time of the injury. He is an exceptional pitch framer and has an .816 OPS with 14 homers and 70 RBIs this season while catching more innings than any other AL catcher.
The good news: It’s not often you can replace an All-Star with a Silver Slugger winner, but that’s what the Rangers have in Garver. He won the award with Minnesota in 2019 but has been dogged by injuries since. He missed most of 2022 with an elbow injury and missed a month this season with a knee injury. Prior to Friday, he’d started only 12 games behind the plate.
The Rangers are likely to alternate Garver and Huff in the interim to protect Garver’s health. Garver got the start on Friday.
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“Mentally, I’m thinking this is the spot I’m supposed to be in,” Garver said. “I’ve been here before. I have been a starting catcher. I think of myself as a catcher more than a DH. It’s going to be fine.”
Garver has also been a more productive player when he’s been able to catch. He’s long held that catching allows him to feel more engaged in the game and impacts his production. Evidence suggests he’s right. For his career, he has an .856 OPS as a catcher; it’s .673 at DH. In 62 plate appearances as a catcher this year, he’s hit four of his five home runs and produced a 1.095 OPS.
Huff, 25, is the Rangers’ best catching prospect, but is still considered somewhat raw behind the plate. Though he’d been on the major league roster for 31 days over three different stints entering Friday, he had just 17 plate appearances.
“Mitch has done this before; we know he can handle it,” said catching instructor Bobby Wilson. “It’s a good challenge for Sam and for our staff. But I told him: This is what he’s been groomed and developed for — to be a championship-level catcher. We are losing experience with Jonah, but I don’t think of Sam as a replacement player. He has the potential to be a front-line player. We will see where he’s at.”
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Source: The Dallas Morning News
