Coming into the 2025 season, the Boston Red Sox were a favorite to have the American League Rookie of the Year on their roster. They had multiple well-known horses in the race, Kristian Campbell and Roman Anthony, with Marcelo Mayer even being considered a dark horse to win it. But nobody expected a 26-year-old, acquired to be the Sox's backup catcher, to catch fire early in the season.
Carlos Narváez wasn't on anybody's radar heading into this season. He battled another offseason acquisition, Blake Sabol, for the backup catcher spot in spring training, and was tabbed mostly as a defense-first player. Connor Wong seemed to have the starting catcher role locked down after a breakout 2025. After breaking camp with the team, Narváez started hot, hitting .333 with a .955 OPS in his first five games.
Then, Wong got hurt. On April 8th, Wong hit the injured list with a left pinky fracture, and Narváez took the opportunity and ran. Following the series with the Mets, he's batting .279 with an .802 OPS, with five homers and 15 RBI.
The defense he was known for has also been spectacular. He currently ranks in the 90th percentile in blocks above average, 95th percentile in caught stealing above average, and 93rd percentile in framing. The only other players who rank in the top ten of qualified catchers in those stats are Patrick Bailey and Alejandro Kirk. He's consistently praised by the pitching staff for the way he calls games, too.
As of May 22, Narváez sports a 1.8 bWAR, which is fourth on the Red Sox. That is also third among all catchers, only behind Cal Raleigh and Will Smith. He's hitting .386 with an OPS over 1.000 in May, and the Venezuelan looks like one of the best catchers in the sport.
The question then becomes, when does Narváez get serious consideration for the American League Rookie of the Year Award? Depending on the sportsbook, his odds sit between +3000 and +4500. That puts him outside the top 10. Draft Kings doesn't even have odds for him to win the award, yet they have Roman Anthony at +3500 who hasn't even made his MLB debut.
Just shy of two months into the season, Narváez has already stolen the starting catcher job from Wong, is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, and is one of the Red Sox's most consistent bats. It's just odd he isn't garnering more consideration for the award. A catcher hasn't won Rookie of the Year since Buster Posey in 2010, but that shouldn't stop people from seeing Narváez as a front-runner.