One of the biggest concerns on the Boston Red Sox's roster is their lack of strong catching depth. After Boston traded top catching prospect Kyle Teel to the White Sox in exchange for Garrett Crochet, its future behind the plate became murky.
The Red Sox still have Connor Wong as their primary catcher, their last remaining player from the Mookie Betts trade after the departures of Alex Verdugo and former top prospect Jeter Downs. The Sox also acquired a few lower-tier backup catchers this offseason, and it's lucky they did — Wong's pinky finger was fractured by a late swing in his April 7 appearance against the Blue Jays, and Boston is already forced to dip into its backup plans.
The Red Sox have called up offseason trade addition Blake Sabol to serve as their backup catcher as Wong heals. Carlos Narváez will take over the primary catching spot since he's gotten off to such a hot start this season. The former Yankees prospect has six hits, three of them doubles, and four walks in his first five games with Boston.
The Sox acquired Sabol from the Giants on Jan. 15 in exchange for international bonus pool money. He made his major league debut in 2023 and batted .235/.301/.394 with 13 homers, 44 RBI and four stolen bases over 110 games with San Francisco. Sabol also has experience in the outfield. He appeared in left field 43 times with the Giants in 2023 and registered one error and one assist there.
Blake Sabol will be the Red Sox's backup catcher as Connor Wong recovers from fractured pinky finger on 10-day IL
The #RedSox today announced the following roster moves: pic.twitter.com/QbljVPaSFE
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 8, 2025
Sabol posted a great stint in the big leagues in 2024 while he helped cover for Giants catcher Patrick Bailey as he recovered from a concussion. Sabol clocked 10 hits, two of them doubles, in 11 games before he was optioned back to Triple-A for the rest of the season. He batted .245/.337/.394 over 100 games in the minor leagues in 2024.
The backstop has five hits, five strikeouts, five walks and four RBI in his first six games with the WooSox. He was already on the Red Sox's 40-man roster, so they did not have to open a spot for him to call him up to the big leagues.
Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reported on BlueSky that the Red Sox will examine Wong's fractured finger weekly and they expect him back sooner rather than later. Alex Cora even classified the injury as the "best case scenario" for a fracture. Sabol's stint with Boston may not be long, but it will be interesting to see what he brings to the lineup both behind and at the plate.