Article: Connor Wong Is Above-Average Offensively But Struggling Mightily Defensively

[Adam Morgan]

Red Sox catcher Connor Wong looks like an MLB catcher at the plate, but how is he performing behind it?

I like to watch the opponent's broadcasts of Red Sox games for a few reasons. First, if anyone besides Lou Merloni is in the booth, I find Dave O’Brien insufferable. Second, it is nice to get a fresh perspective on the hometown nine. Opposition booths are generally pretty complimentary to Boston, both the city and the team, which is nice to hear. But watching the Diamondbacks series this past weekend, a new talking point emerged: Connor Wong is not very good behind the plate. This sentiment was echoed by the Blue Jays broadcasters in the next series as well.

In his first full-time season, Connor Wong had a 1.92 pop time and was tied for fourth in the league in caught stealing, with five above average. According to Baseball Savant, both his pop time and arm strength were above average. Rightfully, he was lauded for his ability to control the running game, which, with the new rules, was considered more important than ever.

Other aspects of Wong’s defense game looked like they could use improvement, though. According to Baseball Savant, he was worth -5 catcher framing runs, which put him 51st among 63 qualified catchers. More alarming was his blocking, which Baseball Savant put him at -7 blocks above average.

Still, his 2.2 Baseball-Reference WAR had him tied with Triston Casas for the seventh most valuable member of the 2023 Red Sox.

In Offensive WAR, Wong has already doubled his production from last season, according to Baseball-Reference. That part of his game has undoubtedly improved, and he has become a top-ten catcher in baseball in that respect.

Defensively, things have begun to slip a bit. His pop time is down to 1.96, which is still good, but his caught stealing above average is now -1, six less than last year. That puts him in the bottom half of catchers. Worse still, he has -7 catcher framing runs and -13 blocks above average. Those both rank second worst in baseball.

While it could be easy to think that Wong might be more suitable for an infield position where he can use his arm strength, there might be some reasons to pause that notion. The newly acquired Danny Jansen is tied atop the Blocks Above Average leaderboard. Still, since arriving at the Red Sox, his rate BAA/game is down from 0.21 to .03. It is obviously a small sample size but a trend worth watching as it may say something about Connor Wong’s ability compared to the rest of the league.

I think there is reason to believe that the Red Sox's “fewer fastballs, more breaking balls” pitching philosophy is having a demonstrative effect on the catchers’ defensive numbers as a whole. It feels logical that if the ball is moving more, it might be hard to catch it cleanly, thus making a slip in caught stealing or framing make some sense. If you are facing more blocking attempts, then there are more chances to miss blocks.

This is the first year with pitching coach Andrew Bailey and Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow instituting the emphasis on breaking pitches. Maybe after an adjustment period, Wong can make adapt to better block pitches and reclaim his control of the running game. There is no need to ask him to hang up the shin guards and chest protector. Still, with the American League East not getting any easier in the coming years, the Fenway faithful need consistently solid performances out of its premium defensive positions.

View full article

[moonslav59]

Nice article. Maybe with Teel on the rise, we'll see Wong in a back-up role. I doubt he can win any other positional job on the current team.

[mvp 78]

He was dealing with an arm injury in Spring Training. His arm strength has gone from 82.2 MPH last year to 80.7 MPH this year. There could be some additional hangover from that injury. 

[moonslav59]

He does not seem to be improving on blocking the plate or framing. His CERA-related skills are undetermined, at this point, IMO.

[Jasonbay44]

If Teel is as good as advertised, I have a feeling Wong is going to be a trade piece at some point. He is an above average hitting catcher but I’m not sure he has enough value as a hitter or is good enough defensively to play anywhere else, and he is probably too good to be a backup. 

[RBMunkin]

First, if anyone besides Lou Merloni is in the booth, I find Dave O’Brien insufferable.

It's so odd how there are so many different opinions. I feel the opposite. I like Dave and I can hardly stand listening to Lou. He never stops talking, and he talks so fast he's always out of breath. And he never says anything I care about.