The Boston Red Sox don't have an excess of catching depth, but when an errant backswing fractured his hand, their backup was an obvious choice.
Boston traded for former Yankees catching prospect Carlos Narváez on Dec. 11, and despite only having six games of MLB experience with his prior team, he made the Opening Day roster. He started off hot at the plate with a hit in each of his four games with the Sox, but has cooled down a full month into the season. He's slashing .214/.276/.357 with two homers over 20 games.
Wong appeared in his second rehab game with the WooSox on April 29, and he's collected three hits in his Triple-A stint so far. Red Sox manager Alex Cora told Christopher Smith of MassLive after Wong's second appearance that he felt "slow" behind the plate and he may not be activated before the end of the Sox's series against the Blue Jays. Even when Wong is reinstated, Narváez will still get plenty of playing time.
Cora told reporters that Narváez will "play a lot" even after Wong is healthy. The latter has flashed a few defensive improvements in his nine games in the majors this year, but Narváez has been simply elite behind the dish.
Red Sox will give Carlos Narváez 'a lot' of playing time when Connor Wong returns from IL
Narváez has clocked six defensive runs saved in his first 20 games with the Red Sox, which leads all qualified catchers in MLB so far. He also leads the league in blocks above average with five and ranks in the 92nd percentile in framing. He also caught Garrett Crochet's seven-inning no-hit bid against the White Sox.
In 2024, Wong posted an incredibly rough year in both blocks above average and framing. He ranked in the third percentile in BAA and the ninth percentile in framing. He ranked above the league average in both caught stealing above average (66th percentile) and pop time (63rd percentile.)
Wong had a breakout offensive season in 2024, though. He slashed a career-best .280/.333/.425 with 13 homers and 52 RBI over 126 games. He hasn't had much of a chance to flash his bat this year and he has just two hits in his nine games so far.
Hopefully, he can post a similar offensive performance as last year when he was a valuable righty bat in Boston's lineup — if he doesn't, he may lose the starting job to Narváez.