Mariners prospect Harry Ford could get promoted after Mitch Garver exits with injury

MINNEAPOLIS – Harry Ford, one of baseball’s top catching prospects, was scratched from the Tacoma Rainiers’ lineup Thursday night, shortly after an injury scare involving Mariners catcher Mitch Garver.

Ford will join the Mariners on Friday in Arlington, Texas, in case he’s needed to fill in for Garver as the M’s backup catcher, sources with knowledge of the situation said.

Garver took a foul tip off his chin/jaw in the fifth inning of the Mariners’ 10-1 loss to the Twins in Minneapolis.

Garver was scheduled to have medical scans to determine the severity of the injury. The M’s will wait on results before making a decision on whether or not to call up the star catching prospect.

After getting off to a slow start in April, Ford’s bat has heated up in Tacoma. Through 60 games, he has a .311 average, with eight home runs and 43 RBIs.

The M’s have been in a tricky spot on how to handle the rising star catcher, because Cal Raleigh has been in his path toward immediate playing time at catcher.

In an interview earlier this month, M’s president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto called it “an awesome problem to have.”

“We have the best catcher in the world in the big leagues right now,” Dipoto said. “If we don’t have the best catching prospect in baseball, he’s one of them, sitting on the doorstep … Help will be required at some point, and he’s putting himself in the conversation to get the opportunity when that happens.”