The Red Sox went into the 2025 season with Connor Wong as their No. 1 catcher with Carlos Narváez as the backup. But Narváez carved out a nice role for himself when Wong landed on the injured list in April with a broken finger.
So nice, in fact, that one Red Sox World Series champion thinks Narváez should take over as the team’s full-time catcher.
“He needs to play five days a week,” Will Middlebrooks said on “Sox Talk with Will Middlebrooks.” “Defensively, he is a better player. That shows in the metrics. He’s arguably one of the best defensive catchers based off the metrics in baseball — him and Williams Contreras. As far as defensive runs saved, blocking, framing, which is still important with now ABS system.”
Wong has been Boston’s primary catcher for two seasons. And Narváez expected to be the backup when the Red Sox traded for him. But he’s exceeded expectations and came through when the team needed him to fill in unexpectedly.
Narváez has been getting more games behind the plate of late. He has a league-leading 18 assists and is batting .271 with four home runs and 14 RBI.