Article: The Red Sox Have Bet On Connor Wong; What Improvements Can He Make To Justify That Bet?

[Amrit Brown]

Connor Wong was a breakout star for the Sox in 2024. That being said, it wasn't perfect. The question is, what changes can Wong make for an even better 2025?

The Red Sox are betting on Connor Wong. This winter, the team sent top-ranked catching prospect Kyle Teel to the White Sox for brand-new ace Garrett Crochet. The thing is, Wong isn’t some type of wunderkind who was preventing a Teel debut in 2025. Despite a breakout season at the plate, Wong’s offensive statistics were somewhat misleading in 2024, and his defense was a consistent problem.

The defense needs to be the most immediate fix. Of 40 catchers to play 500 innings in 2024, Wong ranked 37th in Catching Defense Added. He was 38th in Called Strikes Above Average and Blocking Runs. He was 19th in Throwing Runs. 

The real question is: Does it matter? Last year, for example, the World Series champion Dodgers had a catcher who was equally poor on defense. That catcher, Will Smith, was just one spot ahead of Wong in Catching Defense Added (CDA). That trend, however, doesn’t continue for other World Series winners. In 2023, Rangers catcher Jonah Heim was 4th in CDA. Martin Maldonado ranked 15th in 2022 for the World Champion Astros. (He did split time with Christian Vazquez after the deadline.)

For the most part, the trend continues historically. Since 2002, only two catchers who played 500 innings for a World Series team have finished below Connor Wong’s mark of 37th in the league in CDA. They are Jorge Posada and Ivan Rodriguez, two incredible hitters. Over that span, eight catchers were in the top eight in CDA, and the average finish was 16th. Don’t get me wrong; it is ridiculous to suggest that this stat can help predict if a team can win a World Series with a specific catcher. I only demonstrate the link because having a catcher as defensively deficient as Wong on a young team with major changes to the pitching staff is a serious flaw. 

That being said, bad defense isn’t permanent. With the right emphasis and off-season work, it can be fixed. For Wong, that means a focus on framing and blocking. While his ability to throw runners out isn’t exactly prodigious, it’s been middle of the pack, aka. acceptable. His framing and blocking have, however, never been above league average. 

Having last strapped on the tools of ignorance in Little League and never as a high school or college athlete, I won't pretend to have the answer to those problems. And I'm not implying that Wong hasn’t tried to fix them in the past. I am saying that the right type of instruction can make a substantial difference between seasons. We see defenders at all positions burst into stardom every year. The Sox's new hire of catching instructor Parker Guinn is of note in the team's quest to make Wong take a step forward in 2025. In the past, Guinn managed the Yankees Dominican Summer League team and jumped between several college teams. Instruction from him and a slew of other coaches will be important if Wong makes a defensive jump in 2025. 

While I still perceive Wong’s ability behind the plate as his major fault because of the significance of a defensively savvy backstop, the offense still holds room for improvement. His .280 batting average, which ranked 10th among catchers, masks the whiff rate and strikeout percentage that ranked outside the top 25 among catchers with 200 plate appearances. 

Wong’s expected batting average of .231 last season is also downright scary. The fact that his barrel percentage and exit velocity were in the bottom half of the league likely contributed. I think it’s important to ask if Wong is perceived as a viable franchise option at catcher simply because of his batting average from last year and an incredibly hot start to the season.

He was above average in wRC+ and improved some peripheral stats (see Davy Andrews' article for a more in-depth analysis). He can certainly be a consistent, above-average hitting catcher, a standard he is far closer to offensively than defensively. Wong and the Red Sox could catch lightning in a bottle if he can recreate his hot start from last year for a full season (or, honestly, just 100 games). That being said, changes need to be made. Pitch selection is one example. Among catchers with 200 plate appearances, Wong was 20th in percentage of pitches swung at that were outside of the zone. He was 41st in actually making contact with those pitches. Not being a bad ball hitter is fine. Accepting it seems to be a necessity for Wong.

An improvement in power and exit velocity is also important for Wong; despite a .425 slugging percentage, he only hit 13 home runs. Wong is speedy for a catcher and has made efforts to gain weight this offseason, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Cotillo noted that Alex Cora is impressed with how big and explosive Wong is. If the reports are true, Wong’s size could help him take a step forward on the plate. 

The laundry list of things to work on for Wong is long. Not all of them can be addressed sufficiently in one offseason. The 28-year-old, four-year vet is likely on the way out of his offensive prime, and catchers wear down even faster than other position players, and the team has control over him through 2028. I don’t think the Red Sox must ask for an All-Star or a great season from Wong. The young talent about to join the team needs to ask for consistency. Wong can do that. 

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[mvp 78]

Not sure the Will Smith comparison is entirely fair. Smith is an elite offensive catcher and was 100th percentile in caught stealing. He also had 3.5 bWAR to Wong's 1.6. His defense isn't great, but there are enough other pieces of his game that are great that you can hold your nose over his framing. Wong was 25th percentile or worse in most offensive categories AND a bad defender. I'm not sure many of us on here even saw him as a breakout star? If you go by fWAR, his 1.1 is lower than what Vazquez had in less than 50 games in 2020. It's just not good enough when you look at the overall picture. 

 

[Bellhorn04]

Sure feels like the "hope as a strategy" thing with Wong and a completely untested backup.

Cheap, though. 

[moonslav59]

I have adding a catcher pretty high on my top priority list:

1. Lock down closer

2T. Catcher who can play D and not be bad on O. (Wong is good on O/ Narvaez is good on D.)

2T. RHB

4. 3B Defense

5. 1B Defense

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

I have adding a catcher pretty high on my top priority list:

1. Lock down closer

2T. Catcher who can play D and not be bad on O. (Wong is good on O/ Narvaez is good on D.)

2T. RHB

4. 3B Defense

5. 1B Defense

They aren't acquiring a closer at this point. The closer is already in house. 

A catcher who can play D and isn't bad on O is like a 3 WAR player. Hard to come by. 

 

[Bellhorn04]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I have adding a catcher pretty high on my top priority list:

1. Lock down closer

2T. Catcher who can play D and not be bad on O. (Wong is good on O/ Narvaez is good on D.)

2T. RHB

4. 3B Defense

5. 1B Defense

Good luck getting any of that on FSG's priority list.

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Good luck getting any of that on FSG's priority list.

He didn't say how good the RHB had to be. 

[Bellhorn04]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

He didn't say how good the RHB had to be. 

Why even bother at this point.    

[mvp 78]

Just now, Bellhorn04 said:

Why even bother at this point.    

Bell is blackpilled on the Sox again. 😩

[moonslav59]

16 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They aren't acquiring a closer at this point. The closer is already in house. 

A catcher who can play D and isn't bad on O is like a 3 WAR player. Hard to come by. 

 

I did not say my list is what will happen- only that I see these areas as our weakest ones.

I think Narvaez is a plus on D, and he has shown some power in the minors (about 20 Hrs per 550.) He has an okay OBP in the minors, but that is not something that always translates to the bigs.

Our best hope is, the new coaches help Wong improve on D, and he shows his decent offense, when compared to only catchers was not a fluke.

Realistically, we may sign Grichuk and someone like Finnegan or Beeks.

[Bellhorn04]

13 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Bell is blackpilled on the Sox again. 😩

Sorry, I'm disgusted with their offseason "effort" once again.  What's really going on just gets more and more obvious.  Kennedy's blurb about going over the CBT threshold was just another dangled carrot.  

 

 

[Old Red]

15 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I did not say my list is what will happen- only that I see these areas as our weakest ones.

I think Narvaez is a plus on D, and he has shown some power in the minors (about 20 Hrs per 550.) He has an okay OBP in the minors, but that is not something that always translates to the bigs.

Our best hope is, the new coaches help Wong improve on D, and he shows his decent offense, when compared to only catchers was not a fluke.

Realistically, we may sign Grichuk and someone like Finnegan or Beeks.

What new coaches will help Wong improve on D? If Tek can’t help him then he probably can’t be helped.

[Bellhorn04]

1 minute ago, Old Red said:

What new coaches will help Wong improve on D? If Tek can’t help him then he probably can’t be helped.

The idea that Wong is going to suddenly improve his D is just another joke on us.  Wong and Narvaez is a terrible plan.  

Cheap, though.

[Old Red]

14 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Sorry, I'm disgusted with their offseason "effort" once again.  What's really going on just gets more and more obvious.  Kennedy's blurb about going over the CBT threshold was just another dangled carrot.  

 

 

I’ll say the same thing I said last year. Wait until opening day to see how things look.

[mvp 78]

14 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Sorry, I'm disgusted with their offseason effort once again.  What's really going on just gets more and more obvious.  Kennedy's blurb about going over the CBT threshold was just another dangled carrot.

I've learned to never trust ownership (JH, Werner, Sam) and just expect the Sox to be around .500. Any signs of life better than that and I'm happy. I have no control over the direction of the Sox so I can't fall into a morass of negativity over it. 

[Bellhorn04]

1 minute ago, Old Red said:

I’ll say the same thing I said last year. Wait until opening day to see how things look.

And last year stunk about as bad as the two years before it. 

Not sure why last year is a reason to feel optimistic about anything.

It's more like, why should we expect anything different?

[mvp 78]

Last year was way more enjoyable than '22 and '23. The record was marginally better, but the team was more enjoyable to watch by far. 

[Bellhorn04]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I've learned to never trust ownership (JH, Werner, Sam) and just expect the Sox to be around .500. Any signs of life better than that and I'm happy. I have no control over the direction of the Sox so I can't fall into a morass of negativity over it. 

I get that.  I've reached the point where it's become more of a black comedy than anything.

[Bellhorn04]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

Last year was way more enjoyable than '22 and '23. The record was marginally better, but the team was more enjoyable to watch by far. 

But this is what we've been reduced to.  Last year's team played .500 for a long time, had a hot streak before the break that raised hopes, and played .420 ball after the break.   

[moonslav59]

20 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Sorry, I'm disgusted with their offseason "effort" once again.  What's really going on just gets more and more obvious.  Kennedy's blurb about going over the CBT threshold was just another dangled carrot.  

 

 

I feel the same. Great job on building up the rotation and rotation depth, but nothing, everywhere else.

Even the rotation was built on pitchers returning from injury and a trade for 2 years of a really good pitcher, recently converted to a SP'er.

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

And last year stunk about as bad as the two years before it. 

Not sure why last year is a reason to feel optimistic about anything.

It's more like, why should we expect anything different?

You don’t think injuries played a big part in the record last year? I don’t see where ANYONE said last year was a reason to feel optimistic about anything. I’m just saying wait to see what the final 26 looks like. Injuries could happen in ST, and it may even look worse than it does now.

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

But this is what we've been reduced to.  Last year's team played .500 for a long time, had a hot streak before the break that raised hopes, and played .420 ball after the break.   

The post Mookie trade Sox are basically the pre-2003 Sox. Maybe we can luck into a 1999 season? 

[Bellhorn04]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

The post Mookie trade Sox are basically the pre-2003 Sox. Maybe we can luck into a 1999 season? 

I don't know, man.  In the Duquette years it did feel like the team was at least TRYING every year.

[Bellhorn04]

2 minutes ago, Old Red said:

You don’t think injuries played a big part in the record last year? I don’t see where ANYONE said last year was a reason to feel optimistic about anything. I’m just saying wait to see what the final 26 looks like. Injuries could happen in ST, and it may even look worse than it does now.

I guess I'm just tired of waiting.  

[moonslav59]

15 minutes ago, Old Red said:

What new coaches will help Wong improve on D? If Tek can’t help him then he probably can’t be helped.

Hope is not a projection.

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't know, man.  In the Duquette years it did feel like the team was at least TRYING every year.

The Pedro trade was a big part of that. The Manny signing was a clear sign we wanted to win.

I agree.

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Hope is not a projection.

Tek has been there. What new coaches are going to improve Wong?🤭 Remember Wong CAN be Wrong.🙈

[mvp 78]

14 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't know, man.  In the Duquette years it did feel like the team was at least TRYING every year.

Pre-Pedro? 

[Bellhorn04]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Pre-Pedro? 

It was spotty, but they did make the playoffs in 1995.

The Pedro trade was a mammoth step forward for sure.  

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

It was spotty, but they did make the playoffs in 1995.

The Pedro trade was a mammoth step forward for sure.  

They made the playoffs by winning 86 games. That's not an undoable number this year.