Connor Wong Has Run His Course In Boston

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

We have to pretend the next 15 games will matter as much as the last 120 did -- even if the Red Sox aren't even trying to pretend. 

But the day they clinch an official Wild Card spot will be cause for a well-earned celebration... for the players and replacement coaching staff.

For the front office, they'll be relieved to have kept their jobs, and then get to officially rest all regulars and key pitchers before the playoffs.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

5 minutes ago, Alex Mayes said:

mvp is the real MVP

He's earned it for daily contributions as a regular position poster.

If he only posted once every five days -- no matter how good his pitching and moaning -- I couldn't vote for him for Most Valuable Poster.

[Alex Mayes]

33 minutes ago, bobo52 said:

Thanks for the explanation.  The problem is that it isnt 2023 or 2024 anymore and Rutschman has been awful trying to fit from the right side - which is why latest 50 PAs is important.  The only time he is effective is when he bats lefty and thats against RHP.   Wong in his last 50 PAs is batting very well against Lefties - his problem is that they also use him a lot against Righties because he is good defensively. Chad Tracy and Craig Breslow agree with me - Wong will be on the roster for the rest of the year and in the postseason because he is by far the most effective catcher against LHP.  I dont know why we care about whether the Red Sox will move on from him in the offseason - I dont know why as a Red Sox fan you would write something distracting like that in the middle of a pennant race.  

Criticism isn't fair game? Wong, for all intents and purposes, stinks and it's fair to call that out. Sure, he may be on the roster come the postseason, but he may not. It's very telling that Gasper was behind the dish in the final game of the Angels series. Tracy can say it's because he's familiar with Bennett from catching him with the WooSox but Bennett never threw to Mickey while both were with the WooSox from what I can quickly see and Wong had caught all of Bennett's big league starts except this most recent one. I could be wrong on those numbers, I was skimming pretty quickly, but to me that indicates that Tracy doesn't have the belief in Wong anymore.

[Alex Mayes]

15 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

He's earned it for daily contributions as a regular position poster.

If he only posted once every five days -- no matter how good his pitching and moaning -- I couldn't vote for him for Most Valuable Poster.

This is also quality content. You've earned my second MVP vote.

[bobo52]

 

Quote

It's very telling that Gasper was behind the dish in the final game of the Angels series. 
 

Quote

 

I dont know how to explain this easier.  They started a RHP - so Gasper started.  Wong hits LHP better and will be on the roster to start against LHP which is something needed in the playoffs.  Wong is also a  much better catcher than Gasper and they need him defensively - he is staying on the roster.  This will be proven because - he will stay on the roster.  

 

 

[drewski6]

On 9/10/2026 at 9:37 AM, mvp 78 said:

Let the foot off the gas and now he has a 475 OPS in September. Unbelievable. 

Go back to being mean so that he can be good for the playoffs, please. 

If Duran drops a critical LF very catchable fly ball in a big spot in the playoffs like he did last year, we're blaming Allen?

[drewski6]

On 9/10/2026 at 12:44 PM, moonslav59 said:

I'm a big CERA/OPSA when specific Catcher are catching specific pitchers guy, and my guess is Wong blows Gasper away. Gasper's sample size are small no point can be made.

Wong has decent numbers in this area.

What? Why?

[drewski6]

On 9/10/2026 at 1:40 PM, Alex Mayes said:

Admittedly, as you know from listening to the podcast, I'm not as in with those stats as I should be. If those numbers support Wong, that's a valid reason to keep him around. I'm going to dig more into this side of things. 

No, its a bad stat, let it go.  The only stat that matters for a backup catcher is mph on the throw and neither wong nor gasper have it.  Like at all.

small sample cer/OPSA doesnt take this into account as much as it should.  And certainly not career cuz the game has changed a lot in the last 2 years.

With either Gasper or Wong behind the dish, every single will be a triple and its just a deal breaker.

[drewski6]

catchers arent calling pitches anymore (thats dugout with help from AI), they arent working in tandem with the pitchers. Those days are dead.  The most important thing for a catcher, by far, in 2026 is controlling the running game.  Nothing else even close in importance.

[drewski6]

Wong has lost his ability to throw.  Its too important of a thing to lack for a Catcher in 2026.

[mvp 78]

12 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

If Duran drops a critical LF very catchable fly ball in a big spot in the playoffs like he did last year, we're blaming Allen?

That's just Jarren being Jarren TBH.

[drewski6]

11 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

That's just Jarren being Jarren TBH.

yeah, i just wanted to call alex allen as a callback from when he who shall not be named did it like 10x in a row while spouting off 7 paragraph essays about how cora only likes/plays hispanic players and this is why cora couldnt see that kristian campbell was actually a gold-glove caliber second baseman. Was a wild time.

[Alex Mayes]

34 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

If Duran drops a critical LF very catchable fly ball in a big spot in the playoffs like he did last year, we're blaming Allen?

I forgot about Allen. What a guy.

[Alex Mayes]

1 hour ago, bobo52 said:

 

Wong and Gasper have very similar defensive numbers and they are both bad. If Wong is starting any playoff games over Adley, Tracy should be fired on the spot.

Wong has 162 plate appearances against RHP this season, 67 against LHP.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

catchers arent calling pitches anymore (thats dugout with help from AI), they arent working in tandem with the pitchers. Those days are dead.  The most important thing for a catcher, by far, in 2026 is controlling the running game.  Nothing else even close in importance.

While pitch calling and even pitch-framing have lost significance in recent years, the comfort zone some pitchers get with one catcher over another is for real and measurable.

Some catchers are better at setting targets. Some don't move around and cause distractions. Some know when to walk out to the mound or give the pitcher a breather by delaying the throw back or asking for a ball check. Some might get better results for reasons we'd think were questionable or absurd.

Ask the pitchers, and many will say it matters a lot.

[moonslav59]

54 minutes ago, Alex Mayes said:

Wong and Gasper have very similar defensive numbers and they are both bad. If Wong is starting any playoff games over Adley, Tracy should be fired on the spot.

Wong has 162 plate appearances against RHP this season, 67 against LHP.

Gasper's numbers have to be too small to know much.

[drewski6]

29 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

While pitch calling and even pitch-framing have lost significance in recent years, the comfort zone some pitchers get with one catcher over another is for real and measurable.

Some catchers are better at setting targets. Some don't move around and cause distractions. Some know when to walk out to the mound or give the pitcher a breather by delaying the throw back or asking for a ball check. Some might get better results for reasons we'd think were questionable or absurd.

Ask the pitchers, and many will say it matters a lot.

But if you cant keep the runners at bay, you cant play the position in 2026.  Everything else is significantly secondary to that.  I dont need to see a large sample from Gasper to knw that hes not a solution at C. Wish he was.  But he doesnt have the arm.  Neither does Wong.  And its unfortunatelly a deal breaker.

If a catcher had the arm, then I can see giving him bonus points if he has a calming effect on pitchers. But I wonder how much of that is small samples.  And how much of that is consistent year to year.  At least these days.  Few years ago was a different story.  

But right now, neither Gasper nor Wong have the arm.  I dont think.  Ive seen Wong throw this year more than Gasper and its not good.  I think Casas could swipe a bag on him.  The throws are soft and high.

[Deja Doh]

Gray has seemed to favor Wong behind the plate this year.  Gonna mess with that?

[NHNative]

I think we need to see more over the season...who steps up and makes a difference for the team. Too much in flux.

[Deja Doh]

The problem I see for Gray is that Rutschman moves around too much behind the plate as compared to Wong.  Not sure why Rutschman can't stay still.  I wouldn't want my catcher moving around.

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, drewski6 said:

But if you cant keep the runners at bay, you cant play the position in 2026.  Everything else is significantly secondary to that.  I dont need to see a large sample from Gasper to knw that hes not a solution at C. Wish he was.  But he doesnt have the arm.  Neither does Wong.  And its unfortunatelly a deal breaker.

If a catcher had the arm, then I can see giving him bonus points if he has a calming effect on pitchers. But I wonder how much of that is small samples.  And how much of that is consistent year to year.  At least these days.  Few years ago was a different story.  

But right now, neither Gasper nor Wong have the arm.  I dont think.  Ive seen Wong throw this year more than Gasper and its not good.  I think Casas could swipe a bag on him.  The throws are soft and high.

I've said I want to replace Wong.

That doesn't change the fact that he seems good at this one thing. This year is looking rather inconclusive., but Narvaez beat out Wong in only 2 of 7 samples.

Here are some 2026 numbers: OPS Against by Pitcher-Catcher:

.585 Suarez-Wong (62)>.619 Suarez-Narvaez (312) with AR .715 (119)

.724 Tolle-Wong (268) << .474 Tolle-Narvaez (113) with AR .524 (21)

.646 Gray-Wong (420)> .743 Gray Narvaez (138) with AR .722 (53)

.732 Bello-Wong (199)>> .936 Bello-Narvaez (137) with AR at .546 (51)

.738 Bennett- Wong (102)<< .518 Bennett-Narvaez (168) and .670 with AR

.405 Early-Wong>>.739 Early-Narvaez (251)

.830 Sandoval-Wong (156)>> 1.146 Sandoval-Narvaez (23) with AR at .771 (63)

Gasper is...

.713 w Tolle (102)

N/A with Gray

,375 w Bello (24)

.768 Bennett (87)

.680 Early (51)

N/A Sandoval

.

[Alex Mayes]

20 hours ago, Deja Doh said:

Gray has seemed to favor Wong behind the plate this year.  Gonna mess with that?

Yep. Learn to throw to your starting catcher as you prepare for the postseason, and that's Adley. If everything goes well, the backup catcher won't get off the bench at any point during the postseason. 

[Deja Doh]

Rutschman's right elbow is hurting him (getting cortisone injections), which may explain his weird lefty stiff swing.  It doesn't seem to affect his throwing.  He just needs to provide a stable target behind the plate (too much movement).

[moonslav59]

I presented the OPSA numbers for our starters; now, here is the CERA numbers for our top pitchers in order of most IP (all pitchers with 30+ IP are listed here) :

Wong does not look so impressive, except for just a few pitchers. Only sample sizes of 18 IP+ listed

Gray: Wong 2.30, AR 3.32, Narv 3.94

Tolle: Gasper 2.52, Narv 2.86, Wong 3.77/Career: Wong 3.80 & Narv 4.05

Suarez: Narv 2.96, AR 3.90, Wong 4.02

Bennett: Narv 2.05, Gasper 4.98, Wong 5.40

Bello: Wong 4.93, Narv 7.52 & Career: Jansen 3.23, Wong 3.92, McGuire 4.89, Narv 5.40

Early: Narv 3.45, Wong 3.68 & Career: Narv 3.10, Wong 3.81

Moran: Wong 2.49, Narv 2.55 (virtually tied)

Watson: Narv 3.76, Wong 5.48

Sandoval: Wong 5.18, others combined about equal

Weissert: Narv 2.93, Wong 5.79 & Career: Narv 3.31, Wong 3.59

Chapman: Narv 0.87, Wong 2.37& Career: Narv 0.89, Wong 1.66

Whitlock: Wong 1.57, Narv 2.50 but career Narv 2.22, Wong 2.52 (Vaz 2.40, McGuire 4.50)

Guerrero: (12+ IP) Wong 2,16, Narv 3.00

Slaten: (12+) Wong 1.20, Narv 5.54 and career Wong 2.98, Narv 3.92 (McGuire 3.57)

Crochet: (12+) Wong 3.12, Narv 10.66 & career: Wong 2.23, Narv 3.27