Connor Wong Has Made Great Strides Behind the Plate

It was easy to see when the Red Sox traded for Carlos Narvaez that the team was putting a focus on defensive catchers. We all started to wonder what this could mean for Connor Wong in the long run, as defensive ability had never been his strong suit. He was a catcher that showcased far more offensive potential than defensive. It was fair to wonder if Narvaez would supplant Wong as the starting catcher in 2025, especially after Wong broke his pinky on a catcher’s interference call in early April.

At least in the early returns, though, Wong seems determined to prove everyone wrong. The catching portion of his Baseball Savant page isn’t on fire, but it is plenty red.

If we compare that with his 2024 catching page, we see some significant differences.

These improvements can be linked to a change in Wong’s offseason training program. The Red Sox hired Parker Guinn as the new catching instructor and bullpen catcher. Guinn ended up working with Wong for a couple of days a week during the offseason. With the help of game coordinator and Red Sox catching legend Jason Varitek, Guinn and Wong came up with an offseason program that put a renewed focus on the defensive side of the position. What ended up happening was Wong altered his stance behind the plate. His legs sit in virtually the same positions as they did in previous years, but he’s angled his chest more forward and sits lower in his squat than he has before. This allows him knock down or block balls that would end up as passed balls or wild pitches.

It also allows him to frame pitches with far more success than he has in the past. By sitting lower in the squat, Wong is able to frame pitches that miss down and off either corner as pitches that clip the zone. This allows him to get more calls for the pitchers throwing to him, which, in a non-strike zone challenge world, is as valuable of a skill that a backstop can have. He’s able to give his pitching staff a sense of confidence when he’s behind the plate.

We’re working with a limited number of starts so far in 2025, but it seems like Connor Wong may have figured out the defensive side of catching this season. The offensive side has to come around for it to make sense for him to keep getting starts over Narvaez, but he’s proven in the past that he’s capable of making offensive adjustments when necessary. If both sides of the game start to click for Wong soon, then the Red Sox have a great problem on their hands.

(h/t Jen McCaffrey)