Carlos Narváez May Have Been Snubbed, but He's Playing All-Star Caliber Baseball

Carlos Narvaez barely made a blip on most fan’s radar when the Red Sox traded for him during the offseason. He was seen as a backup option for Connor Wong who would see playing time once or twice a week at best. Oh, how wrong we all were.

Narvaez has been arguably the brightest spot in the lineup most nights and took over the starting catcher role from Wong after Wong fractured his pinky on a catcher’s interference call early in the season. A growing portion of the fan base, myself included, began talking about how Narvaez likely would make the All-Star team in his rookie year with the club. Once the full lineups came out on Sunday, July 6th, we learned that Narvaez had not been chosen. Even still, he’s playing All-Star caliber baseball and should continue to be someone that the fans can put their faith in as we dive into the dog days of summer and beyond.

So far in 2025, Narvaez has played 561.2 innings. In those innings, he’s proven just how valuable a stellar defensive catcher is to an organization. He’s currently in the 98th percentile in both blocks above average and caught stealing above average. His framing ranks in the 91st percentile and his pop time comes in at the 79th percentile. The catching portion of his Baseball Savant page is red hot. He’s calling phenomenal games behind the plate and it’s clear that the entire pitching staff trusts him when he’s behind the dish. While his pop time is the “weakest” part of his game, it’s nothing to laugh at. When someone takes off from first, he’s up quick and throws a strike across the diamond. Narvaez ranks third amongst all catchers in the league in fielding run value (FRV) with 10, behind Patrick Bailey with 12 and Alejandro Kirk with 14. All-Star starter Cal Raleigh comes in with a two, but he’s in the Midsummer Classic for his offensive dominance more than anything. 

On offense, Narvaez is currently slashing .272/.350/.434 with seven home runs and 28 RBIs. While the batting section of his Savant page is more blue than red, he passes the eye test with flying colors. He has some holes in his swing, no doubt, but he always seems to come through when the team needs him most. Just remember back to the gem of a game he called against the Yankees at Fenway with Garrett Crochet on the mound. Late in the game, Aaron Judge tied the game at one all and who walked it off? That’s right, Carlos Narvaez.

What points to Narvaez being the catcher of the future, though, is that it never seems like the moment gets too big for him. Much like the other rookies on this team, he seems very confident when he steps into the box or has his gear on behind the plate. On offense, we can just look back at that walk-off against his former team. It’s fair to say that most rookies, when put in that situation, would have rolled that pitch over or swung over the top of it. Instead, Narvaez put it in the air and banked it off the Green Monster for the win. That was not an easy pitch to get to—it was high and outside. On defense, he’s made more heads up plays this season than anyone would have expected. Be it calling the right pitches and locations in tough situations, throwing back picks to first and third to get extra outs, or catching would-be base stealers.

Carlos Narvaez was snubbed from the All-Star game, but he’s putting up numbers that are befitting of a selection. Instead of heading to Atlanta to play in that showcase, he’s going to get some days off to rest and recover. This should mean that he returns to his full offensive potential as the team exits the break and tries to make a run at the postseason. If Narvaez is playing well on both sides of the ball post-break, there’s no reason to think the Red Sox can’t make some noise in a jumbled American League as the postseason starts to appear on the horizon.