FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox drafted Matt Thaiss 13 years ago.
He’s finally at spring training camp with them for the first time.
Boston signed Thaiss to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league spring training on Jan. 31. The 30-year-old, who has appeared in 305 major league games, is competing for the backup catcher role behind starter Carlos Narváez.
Boston drafted Thaiss in the 32nd round (953rd overall) in 2013 out of Jackson Memorial High in Jackson, New Jersey. He didn’t sign with Boston and instead kept his commitment to the University of Virginia baseball program.
“It was a really cool honor to be drafted back then,” Thaiss said. “And obviously I went to school but I was very grateful.”
Three years later in the 2016 Draft, the Angels selected Thaiss in the first round (16th overall).
Ray Fagnant, the Red Sox’ Northeast regional scouting supervisor, scouted Thaiss as a high schooler.
“He’s kept in touch over the years, which has been cool,” Thaiss said about Fagnant.
Thaiss said he “absolutely” gave consideration to signing with the Sox in 2013.
“Anytime you get drafted, you consider it,” he said. “But at the same time, I was going to a very good school, and I think my mom made it clear that I was going to get an education first.”
So mom had a big say?
“Absolutely,” he said.
He made the right decision. As a first-rounder in 2016, he received a $2.150 million signing bonus.
“It’s a great school,” he said. “There’s a lot of UVA guys that come through this organization, too, and they do a great job over there.”
The Red Sox have drafted nine players out of UVA, including Connelly Early, Kyle Teel and 2025 second-round selection Henry Godbout.
Thaiss wasn’t sitting at home staring at the MLB draft tracker online when Boston picked him. He found out when he received a call from the team. He didn’t think he was going to be drafted because of his strong commitment to Virginia.
“I think when you go through that process in high school, you say what your intentions are, and then when you do that, you don’t really expect to get drafted,” Thaiss said. “But when there was 40 rounds, it was a different story.”
Connor Wong is the only other catcher besides Narváez on the 40-man roster and the favorite to be Narváez’s backup. But the Red Sox have six non-roster invitee catchers in camp, including three catchers with major league experience in Thaiss, Jason Delay and Mickey Gasper.
“We always want guys to come in and try to push our guys to get their jobs,” manager Alex Cora said. “That’s the nature of the business. Connor is healthy, which is important.”
Thaiss, a 5-foot-11, 195-pounder left-handed hitter, has batted .210 with a .320 on-base percentage and .332 slugging percentage in 961 major league plate appearances. He’s always been good at not chasing pitches outside the strike zone and taking walks. He’s also a strong blocker.
He is fighting for a spot.
“I think everyone is,” Thaiss said. “Just day in and day out, just coming in, showing up, doing what I need to do, and whatever happens from there happens from there.”
Thaiss’ Baseball America scouting report coming out of college mentioned his power potential. It noted, “With plus bat speed and a strong, whippy swing with leverage, Thaiss has above-average to plus raw power. While some scouts project he’ll hit 10-15 home runs per season, his plate discipline should help him translate his raw power to game power”
“I think the past couple years I’ve kind of sacrificed some power for some other things at the plate,” Thaiss said. “Trying to get back to that. These guys have been great here this first week and kind of doing some different things in order to get that back. And then obviously, defensively, we’re always working just to get better.”
Thaiss hit nine home runs in 95 games for the Angels in 2023, but he had just three home runs in 117 games for the Angels, White Sox and Rays in 2024-25.
“I think some of it’s mechanical and some of it’s approach-based and just hunting the right pitches and knowing what you’re good at, what you’re not good at,” he said.