{"id":567867,"date":"2026-02-12T08:47:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T08:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/567867\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T08:47:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T08:47:22","slug":"carlos-narvaez-reveals-he-delayed-surgery-for-months-to-help-red-sox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/567867\/","title":{"rendered":"Carlos Narv\u00e1ez reveals he delayed surgery for months to help Red Sox"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2013 Carlos Narv\u00e1ez has several goals for the 2026 season, none more important than a fully healthy year, after offseason meniscus surgery<\/a> in October.<\/p>\n

Only, it wasn\u2019t supposed to be an offseason surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was set up to have surgery in July,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez told the Herald, \u201cand I didn\u2019t want to. \u2026 They told me, \u2018You need it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Recognizing the organization\u2019s thin catching depth and the big-league club\u2019s potential, he begged the Red Sox to let the training staff try to help him keep playing as long as possible. They relented, and for that, he\u2019s immensely grateful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI talked to them and said, \u2018Let\u2019s work together to make (playing) happen,\u2019\u201d Narv\u00e1ez recalled. \u201cThe amazing group that we had, I knew we were getting ready for a postseason, and I just felt my team needed (me). I said, \u2018Please help me to get through to the end.\u2019 \u2026 They trusted me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, Narv\u00e1ez, who is praised by coaches and pitchers for his level of preparedness for every game, added a new, intense layer of prep to his plate.<\/p>\n

\u201c(It) was daily work in the training room,\u201d he said. \u201cEspecially the last two months, I felt my knee every day. It was crazy, because it wasn\u2019t only a pain, it was like a click. (My leg) got locked up.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo that was tough, but we made it. The training staff was amazing. \u2026 They were with me, and I\u2019m so thankful for those guys having my back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Narv\u00e1ez played 118 regular-season games, and caught 112 of them. He led the majors with 32 caught-stealing and 58 assists. As a rookie with a knee injury.<\/p>\n

Often, it was a mind-over-body experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy own path was very difficult, playing with pain, too many difficulties,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez said of his unlikely journey through minor leagues to the top. \u201cIn my mind, it\u2019s like, \u2018OK this knee is not going to bother me.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA little issue for all the movements, glove, throw, turn, run, it was a little challenging for me,\u201d he added. \u201cBut as soon as the games start, I forget about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playing through pain is a point of immense pride for Narv\u00e1ez, and something he will gladly do all over again. He wants to be like the legendary Red Sox \u2018Dirt Dogs\u2019 he so admires, Dustin Pedroia and Trot Nixon, who gave their all to be on the field and make every play.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways, hopefully, my whole career is going to be like that,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez said. \u201cYou\u2019re always going to feel something, but no pain is enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to, pull me off the field, but I\u2019m never gonna get off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2013 Carlos Narv\u00e1ez has several goals for the 2026 season, none more important than a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2288],"tags":[5,48,789,2328,2304,4,2305,2303,151],"class_list":{"0":"post-567867","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-postseason","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-boston-red-sox","10":"tag-carlos-narvaez","11":"tag-major-league-baseball-playoffs","12":"tag-major-league-baseball-postseason","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-mlb-playoffs","15":"tag-mlb-postseason","16":"tag-spring-training"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116056794316382470","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567867","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=567867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}