{"id":514526,"date":"2026-01-11T04:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T04:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/514526\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T04:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T04:24:12","slug":"narvaez-wont-play-for-venezuela-in-wbc-will-be-100-for-spring-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/514526\/","title":{"rendered":"Narv\u00e1ez won’t play for Venezuela in WBC, will be 100% for spring training"},"content":{"rendered":"

The knee ailment that ultimately resulted in surgery a week after the 2025 Red Sox\u2019s short-lived postseason run will not hold Carlos Narv\u00e1ez back in spring training.<\/p>\n

At Saturday\u2019s Fenway Fest<\/a>, the catcher said he\u2019s \u201c100-percent\u201d on track for a normal spring training. He even described his offseason recovery and rehab as \u201cawesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c(I\u2019m) doing 100-percent everything: running completely, doing defense, hitting,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez said. \u201cIf I need to play tomorrow, I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite managing the injury for much of the second half, Narv\u00e1ez played 118 games in his first Red Sox season, including 112 as their catcher. He ranked in the 98th MLB percentile in caught stealing above average, led all catchers with 32 runners caught, and was a Gold Glove finalist for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was (bothering me) a lot,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez admitted. \u201cIt was on and off. Not gonna lie, last two months of the season especially.\u201d<\/p>\n

There would be \u201creally bad\u201d days, followed by \u201ctwo or three days, I didn\u2019t feel anything,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez said.<\/p>\n

He played regardless, and prided himself on being available.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as the game starts (at) 7 p.m., like, it doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was an issue, of course, but every guy played with some difficulties, you know what I mean? Like, some injuries, some minor pains\u2026 at the catcher position, you\u2019ve got to be down there every time and you\u2019ve got to show up, you\u2019ve got to be a leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday was a reminder of how much life has changed for the catcher since last January, when he came to Fenway Fest as a virtual unknown from a trade with the New York Yankees.<\/p>\n

This time around, Narv\u00e1ez walked into the daylong event as a team linchpin.<\/p>\n

\u201cA year ago I was afraid, I was scared, like everything was new for me,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez said. \u201cOf course after that year (I\u2019m) way more confident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red Sox hungry for fresh start, but roster needs loom large at Fenway Fest<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

After a transformational year, Narv\u00e1ez is ready to improve and reach new heights in his second Red Sox season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know my bat went down a little bit at the end,\u201d he said. \u201cOf course, the catcher\u2019s interference and all that stuff, I know, was something that bothered me a little bit and cost us at least one or two games in the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Admired by Red Sox pitchers and coaches for his preparedness and the joy he brings to the job, Narv\u00e1ez is especially eager to get to work with two new teammates acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals: right-hander Sonny Gray and catcher-turned-first-baseman Willson Contreras.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a guy I\u2019ve been seeing since the World Series back then in \u201816,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez said of Contreras. \u201cI know he\u2019s gonna contribute (in a) big way for us. That\u2019s a bat that we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Narv\u00e1ez and Contreras hail from Venezuela, though the former has lived in Miami for several years. In the uncertain aftermath of American Delta Force operatives\u2019 capture of Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores last Saturday, Narv\u00e1ez said his relatives there are safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cDifficult topic there,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez said. \u201cAs a country, we know it was needed. It\u2019s not a secret, it\u2019s been tough years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Narv\u00e1ez said he \u201cwould love\u201d to represent Venezuela in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, but insurance denied him due to the knee surgery.<\/p>\n

Injury update<\/p>\n

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Saturday he anticipates an almost entirely healthy group at big-league spring training next month. Presently, right-hander Tanner Houck (elbow) and first baseman Triston Casas (knee) are the only current exceptions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The knee ailment that ultimately resulted in surgery a week after the 2025 Red Sox\u2019s short-lived postseason run…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[5,141,48,2542,789,4,89,2543,8814,409,4820],"class_list":{"0":"post-514526","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-red-sox","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-red-sox","11":"tag-bostonredsox","12":"tag-carlos-narvaez","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-red-sox","15":"tag-redsox","16":"tag-venezuela","17":"tag-willson-contreras","18":"tag-world-baseball-classic"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115874566216640080","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=514526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}