Article: Connor Wong Has An Uncertain Future With Red Sox

[Finley Rogan]

After missing about a month between early April and May, Red Sox catcher Connor Wong has yet to return to his 2024 form offensively. As a matter of fact, Wong hasn’t even come close, as his slash line reads .158/.262/.158. Now, Wong only has 65 plate appearances, which is too small of a sample size to truly assess, but the ascension of Rookie of the Year contender and fellow catcher Carlos Narváez begs to question whether Wong will even have an extended opportunity to get back on track. 

Wong had his best season to date in 2024, and he wound up finishing with a 110 wRC+, which was eighth among all catchers with 350 or more plate appearances. He struck out 23.4% of the time, which was a vast improvement on his 33.3% strikeout rate in 2023. Overall, Wong had a career-best season with the bat by almost every metric. He did, however, struggle defensively behind the plate, and his negative seven catcher framing runs was fifth worst in Major League Baseball. 

So far, in his 24 games this season, Wong has struggled mightily at the plate. He has a .420 OPS and has yet to record an extra-base hit in 57 at-bats. The power he flashed in 2024 is nowhere to be seen, though his expected slugging percentage remains similar. Wong is not hitting the ball with much authority this year, though his barrel rate and hard-hit rate have actually improved slightly in 2025. It puts into question whether Wong could ever return to his 2024 form, as his underlying metrics from last season do not show a 110 wRC+ hitter. It's worth noting that Wong has walked just over 10% of the time so far in 2025, which is good for a career high. Ultimately, the backstop has hardly played this season, and his numbers could look much different after ten more starts. Once Wong surpasses 150 plate appearances, we can begin to analyze his season with some clarity. 

The issue for Wong is that he has not gotten much opportunity since his return, as it coincided with the May ascension of Narváez. Regardless of whether he stays hot offensively, the Red Sox will likely start Narváez as much as they can behind the plate for the rest of the season, as he has been spectacular defensively. Narváez is tied for second among all catchers in framing runs with four. He has also been well above average at blocking the baseball, which Wong consistently struggled with. An elite framing catcher is greatly valued in the modern game, and Narváez coming in this good as a rookie is significant for the Red Sox. Oh yeah, he's slashing .283/.356/.456 while maintaining an 80th percentile barrel rate. 

Where does that leave Wong? Well, it leaves him as the backup catcher on a team with a set designated hitter in Rafael Devers. Wong will not break out of his slump by simply playing a week straight and regaining his confidence. It is also unlikely he will get sent down unless the Red Sox call up Yasmani Grandal to get the starts behind the plate when Narváez rests. That likely won't happen anytime soon, as Wong does not have enough plate appearances to justify a send down. Instead, Wong will continue to play once or twice a week, and hope to get hot at some point, especially if Narváez slumps over an extended period. There is also a possibility that Wong could get moved at the deadline. With three years of team control left beyond this season, and a small arbitration number coming this fall, a few teams could be interested in the 29-year-old, especially if he can turn it around offensively. 

As the lone piece remaining from the Mookie Betts trade, Wong may be running out of time in Boston. Although his struggles have not greatly impacted the team, Wong had a solid 2024, and he could still be a valuable piece for the Red Sox, whether it is behind the plate, or in a trade at the deadline. However, for that to be true, Wong must begin to look more like his 2024 self and put his early-season woes behind him.

View full article

[mvp 78]

In 300 G, he has 1.5 fWAR/3.8 bWAR. I'm not worried about trying to get him back on track. He hasn't been consistent offensively or defensively since reaching more advanced pitching in AAA.  

[moonslav59]

32 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

In 300 G, he has 1.5 fWAR/3.8 bWAR. I'm not worried about trying to get him back on track. He hasn't been consistent offensively or defensively since reaching more advanced pitching in AAA.  

Those numbers are not awful for a back-up (20-25%) catcher.

I would like to see a better defensive catcher. I'm not sure we have one in our system, close enough to the bigs to be worth sticking with Wong until ready.

Has Wong's defense improved, this year, or is the sample size too puny to know enough?

We have Grandal (1B also) and Zavala in AAA (plus Lira.)

Kolozsvary (good on D) and Rosario (bad on D) in AA.

Brannon in GRE w questionable D.

20 year old Jo Garcia might be our best hope, but his D is in progress, and he's had to overcome injury. He may be 2-3 years away.

[mvp 78]

14 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Those numbers are not awful for a back-up (20-25%) catcher.

I would like to see a better defensive catcher. I'm not sure we have one in our system, close enough to the bigs to be worth sticking with Wong until ready.

Has Wong's defense improved, this year, or is the sample size too puny to know enough?

We have Grandal (1B also) and Zavala in AAA (plus Lira.)

Kolozsvary (good on D) and Rosario (bad on D) in AA.

Brannon in GRE w questionable D.

20 year old Jo Garcia might be our best hope, but his D is in progress, and he's had to overcome injury. He may be 2-3 years away.

I'd want my backup Catcher to either be a masher or be a plus defender. Wong is neither. 

[smokedogg1982]

Once he is gone the Red Sox will finally be rid of all of the players from the Betts trade. That can't come soon enough for me. They will have a hard time calling up Grandall considering he asked and was granted a release from the team. He seems to be riding off into retirement.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

I'd want my backup Catcher to either be a masher or be a plus defender. Wong is neither. 

Me, too, but when  your number one is a plus defender and can maybe hit .800, I'm not sure how much we need to invest on a better back-up than Wong, especially when we have greater priorities.

Maybe Wong's .758 OPS, last year was a fluke, but a .700 back-up catcher is not too bad. it's his D I worry about. He's 29. VTek got better around 29-30, so maybe he can, too.

[mvp 78]

 

[mvp 78]

 

[moonslav59]

17 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

 

I liked him, a while ago. He may still be better than Wong.

Grandal is about to retire, so that hope is extinguished.

Jo Garcia is way too far away. I'm sure glad we stole Narvaez from the Yanks.

Catcher fWAR

1. Raleigh 4.4

2. Narvaez 2.3

3. W Smith 2.3

4. Dingler 2.0

5. G Moreno 2.0

6. Kirk 1.8

7. Kelly 1.6 (Some of us wanted him signed)

8. Baldwin 1.5

9. A Wells 1.4 NYY

10. Wm Contreras

10. S Murphy 1.3 (Some of us hoped we could trade Story & cash for him.)

12. Heineman 1.2 (We had him.)

9 catchers are between 0.8 and 1.0

10 catchers are between 0.5 and 0.9

Wong is tied for #50 at 0.1 with Danny Jansen and is ahead of Vazquez and 11 others at 0.0.

[Duran Is The Man]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

 

how bad do you have to be, to be released by the worst team in modern MLB history?

[Kimmi]

I think you guys are being too hard on Wong.  His offense has not been there, but perhaps that has to do with having so few at bats and inconsistent playing time?  His expected stats are significantly better than his actual stats.

Defensively, Wong ranks 15th out of ALL catchers in Catching Defense Added Runs with +1.2, despite having fewer opportunities than many other catchers.  Narvaez ranks 3rd with +6.1.

I have no problem with Wong as our backup catcher.