Mitch Garver is coming back to Albuquerque to jump-start his 2023 baseball season.
The former La Cueva High and the University of New Mexico star is set to begin a rehab assignment with the Triple-A Round Rock Express, which happens to be facing the host Isotopes for the next six days beginning Tuesday night.
The Isotopes confirmed Monday that Garver, 32, is expected in town. That’s after Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said over the weekend that Garver was ready to begin a rehab assignment.
Garver went on the injured list on April 10 after suffered a mid-left knee sprain. He was batting .263 with two home runs and six RBIs at the time of the injury. At the time, the hope was that Garver would be available after his 10-day stint on the injured list was over. But his recovery has taken longer than that.
This is Garver’s second year with the Rangers after playing parts of four seasons with Minnesota, who selected him out of UNM with a ninth-round draft pick in 2013.
He had a breakout 2019 season with the Twins, slamming 31 homers in 93 games. He has dealt with various injury issues that have limited his playing time since.
In Garver’s absence, the Rangers have been one of baseball’s surprises in the early part of 2023, jumping out to a 29-17 start and leading the American League West going into Monday’s action.
