Article: Boston Red Sox 2025 Position Analysis: Catcher

[Nick John]

The Red Sox made many improvements to their roster this offseason, but catcher is still a question mark for the team.

Last year at this time, Kyle Teel looked like the catcher of the future. Likely to make his major league debut some point in 2025, Teel appeared set to take over for Connor Wong as the starter. Fast-forward a year, and Kyle Teel has been traded to the White Sox in the Garrett Crochet deal, and Wong is still entrenched as the team's starting catcher.

Wong can be serviceable behind the plate but is better suited as a backup. Last season, Wong was one of the worst defensive catchers in baseball. Statcast put him in the ninth percentile when it came to framing, costing the teams seven runs. He graded out even worse at blocking: third percentile, costing the Red Sox 13 runs. And while his offense looked decent, with a slash line of .280/.333/.425 across 126 games, there were still issues. He hit 13 home runs in 447 at-bats, but for the most part, he did not hit the ball hard. Wong's average exit velocity was near the bottom of the league at 86.5 mph, and his stat line carried several indicators of unsustainability.

The Red Sox didn’t ignore the catching position, however. Gone are Reese McGuire and trade deadline acquisition Danny Jansen, replaced by defense-first rookie Carlos Narváez and former 2019 draft pick Blake Sabol. Also brought in as extra depth on a minor league deal was Seby Zavala. All three are fighting for the backup catcher position in spring training, though Narváez may have a leg up on the other two from his early showings.

Red Sox Catchers At A Glance:

Starter: Connor Wong
Backup: Carlos Narváez
Depth: Blake Sabol, Seby Zavala (NRI), Mark Kolozsvary (NRI)
Prospects: Brooks Brannon, Ronald Rosario, Johanfran Garcia
Red Sox fWAR Ranking Last Year: 22nd out of 30

The Good

Honestly, with this crop of catchers, there's nowhere to go but up. Last season, the Red Sox had Wong as the starter and McGuire as the backup, to go along with Tyler Heineman as a depth option in Triple A. McGuire struggled in 53 games, only hitting .209 before being designated for assignment in late July. His replacement, Danny Jansen, didn’t do much better in his short time in Boston, hitting .188 in 30 games. Offensively, Wong was the lone bright spot, despite relying on a very high BABIP and a career-low exit velocity. He did manage to cut his strikeout percentage from 33.3% in 2023 down to 23.4% last season. Relying on Wong offensively is not something the Red Sox can do if they plan to compete for the playoffs, but having someone with his bat near the bottom of the lineup will play out well for the team. Add to it the work Wong put in during the offseason to improve his defense, and there’s a good chance he can improve upon his poor framing and blocking ability. Simply getting to league-average defensive production would make a huge difference.

When it comes to defense, Carlos Narváez should represent a huge improvement. Acquired from the Yankees in December, Narváez is known for his defensive capabilities and a strong arm behind the plate. He entered spring training in a competition for the backup catcher position and has shined with both his glove and bat in his given opportunities. Defensively he’s more than ready for the majors but if his bat can be anything around league-average for a catcher, there’s a chance he could even challenge Wong for the starting position by the end of the season. The position right now is Wong’s to lose, though a regression to his 2023 season offensively could give Narváez a bigger opportunity.

When it comes to the future, the Red Sox may have to wait, but if both Garcia and Brannon can stay healthy and showcase their potential on the field it could make trading away Kyle Teel easier to swallow. Garcia has been profiled as a bat-first backup with the ceiling of an everyday catcher. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL last season and his projection depends on how he recovers from the injury. Stil, entering his age-20 season, he’ll have time to progress through the minors. Brannon, on the other hand, has struggled to stay healthy, but when he has been able to stay on the field he’s shown flashes of potential with his power.

The Bad

There’s a chance everything goes wrong. The floor here is very low. Wong is the first big question mark. His defense was very bad last season. It’s been reported that Wong spent the offseason focusing on his defense, but if he doesn't improve in a big way and his offense comes down to earth, there won't be much keeping him in the starting job.

If Narváez struggles to hit major league pitching and shows that he’s not ready, the other backup option is Sabol. Across two seasons, he’s played in a total of 121 games with San Francisco, and he may not be much of an upgrade over either of the catchers on the 40-man roster. If his bat doesn’t work out, the Red Sox could be forced to make a move, especially since Sabol showed some defensive weakness last season. He made three errors in only eight games behind the plate, and also allowed five wild pitches and 11 stolen bases.

The rest of the depth is almost non-existent. After Wong and Narváez the only other catcher on the 40-man roster is Sabol, who will most likely play the role Heineman played last year; play in Worcester and be an emergency call-up when needed. Heineman played a total of two games for Boston last year. After Sabol, the Red Sox will have Zavala, Nathan Hickey and Mark Kolozsvary sharing time behind the plate, first base, and designated hitter to make sure they get playing time. The group  represents emergency depth, with Zavala's 194 games giving him the most major league experience in the group. His best season came in 2022 with the White Sox, where he managed to hit .270 across 61 games. For his career, Zavala is a .205 hitter who gets on base at a .271 pace.

Hickey started last year in Worcester, but struggled and was demoted to Portland during the second half. So far in spring training, he’s mainly played first base, but the Red Sox still plan to have him catch in Worcester this season. Kolozsvary will rejoin him there, the right-hander played in only 27 games last season as he spent a large portion on the development list. His strength lies more in his ability to work with the pitching staff instead of actual in-game contributions.

The future also isn’t very bright, as top catching prospect Garcia recovers from surgery. There’s been no word on when he’ll return to catching. He’s only 20 years old and the team will want to make sure he is completely healthy before playing him again. They don’t want another injury to sideline him and slow down his progress. As he's only made it to single-A Salem, he won't be reaching Boston any time soon regardless of injuries.

The Bottom Line

Jason Varitek isn’t getting behind the plate and calling games any time soon. You would hope for more stability at the catcher position, but the Red Sox seem to like what they have with the combination of Wong and Narváez. However, there’s no knowing what you’ll get with these two. Either Wong builds off of his 2024 season and shows he can bridge the gap to the next catcher, or he regresses and Narváez is given a chance to play more. Should both of them struggle, Sabol will get his chance. After that, the Red Sox will need to make a move to bring in some catching help. However, if Wong and Narváez are the players that the Red Sox expect them to be, they’ll be in a good situation with complementary pieces: an offense-first catcher and a defensive standout for a backup.

 

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[moonslav59]

I was very disappointed in Wong's defense in 2024. I expected growth, and it seemed like he got worse. I'm wondering if Narvaez becomes the 60%+ catcher by season's end. That may depend on how each is doing at the plater, but I hope defense takes priority.

The Sox will likely see a below average fWAR from our catcher position, but if we can end up near average, it would be a nice gain over 2024.

[Nick John]

41 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I was very disappointed in Wong's defense in 2024. I expected growth, and it seemed like he got worse. I'm wondering if Narvaez becomes the 60%+ catcher by season's end. That may depend on how each is doing at the plater, but I hope defense takes priority.

The Sox will likely see a below average fWAR from our catcher position, but if we can end up near average, it would be a nice gain over 2024.

I have a feeling that Narváez will get the majority of the starts behind the plate if he can hit about. 220/.230, especially with his defensive capabilities and I'm expecting Wong's offensive numbers to regress. I do hope Wong has improved on the defensive side of the game but we'll see.

[moonslav59]

12 minutes ago, Nick John said:

I have a feeling that Narváez will get the majority of the starts behind the plate if he can hit about. 220/.230, especially with his defensive capabilities and I'm expecting Wong's offensive numbers to regress. I do hope Wong has improved on the defensive side of the game but we'll see.

Agreed. I do not think Wong's 2024 offensive numbers are sustainable, and his defense will need to improve to stay as the #1 catcher.

I'm hopeful Narvaez can hit well enough to play more. His AAA numbers were rather encouraging:

.247 21 97 in 762 PAs. (.371 OBP and .400 SLG)

.230 with 15 HRs and a .333 OBP would likely be enough to win the majority of the starts.

[Nick John]

6 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Agreed. I do not think Wong's 2024 offensive numbers are sustainable, and his defense will need to improve to stay as the #1 catcher.

I'm hopeful Narvaez can hit well enough to play more. His AAA numbers were rather encouraging:

.247 21 97 in 762 PAs. (.371 OBP and .400 SLG)

.230 with 15 HRs and a .333 OBP would likely be enough to win the majority of the starts.

I just feel Wong's numbers aren't sustainable because of his savant numbers. Everything points to the fact he got lucky on a lot of soft hit balls.

If Narváez can hit even slightly below those Triple-A numbers I'd argue this trade could be a steal. 

[moonslav59]

19 minutes ago, Nick John said:

I just feel Wong's numbers aren't sustainable because of his savant numbers. Everything points to the fact he got lucky on a lot of soft hit balls.

If Narváez can hit even slightly below those Triple-A numbers I'd argue this trade could be a steal. 

Wong was at .670 in about 500 PAs before 2024, so maybe that is more like his norm, but then again, you do kinda expect a player to improve over his first 500 PAs. Maybe he's a ..680 to .720 guy, so if Narvaez can hit .660-.690 he might be the better catcher. .700 would likely win him the job.

[mvp 78]

14 hours ago, Nick John said:

I just feel Wong's numbers aren't sustainable because of his savant numbers. Everything points to the fact he got lucky on a lot of soft hit balls.

If Narváez can hit even slightly below those Triple-A numbers I'd argue this trade could be a steal. 

Narvaez could have higher fWAR simply because of his defense. Wong's defense hasn't looked better this spring even though we had some glowing articles about his offseason work. I agree about his offensive numbers from '24 too. 

[moonslav59]

I remember thinking, last winter, that maybe our catcher tandem of Wong and McGuire could hit average or better vs other  catchers, and that Wong's D would improve. McGuire was thought to be a plus on D, so I was thinking maybe we could finish near the middle in team fWAR at this position. That did not happen, despite adding Jansen.

I'm not so optimistic, this year, but mainly because Narvaez is such a big unknown. I do think we have potential to be mid-level, but I'm not predicting it.