Red Sox Catchers Are Stepping Up When They're Needed Most

It's been a pretty tumultuous September for the Boston Red Sox, as they've lost series to the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees while slipping from the top Wild Card seed in the American League to the third. They still hold the second-best run differential in the Junior Circuit at +90 and a 2.5-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians for the final playoff spot in the AL, but this team is hardly making it easy.

Still, they've won games when they've absolutely had to, like when they salvaged the finale of the Diamondbacks and Yankees series to avoid being swept. It might not be pretty, but the Red Sox still have the inside track on making the postseason.

Part of that is thanks to steady contributions from regulars like Jarren Duran and some brilliant work by Garrett Crochet, Connelly Early, and Lucas Giolito in the rotation, but the truth is the Sox are staying afloat thanks to their suddenly-brilliant catching tandem. Since Sept 1. (13 games), among Red Sox players with at least 10 plate appearances, Carlos Narváez ranks second in OPS (.940), while his much-maligned backup, Connor Wong, ranks fourth (.938). Wong has actually been better in terms of wRC+ (160), ranking second behind only Nate Eaton (Narváez ranks fourth with a 152 wRC+).

Narváez is hardly an unknown commodity around these parts, as Talk Sox has been singing the rookie backstop's praises all year long. He was mired in a nasty slump in July (54 wRC+) and August (64 wRC+), but he's seemingly rebounded and found his best form at the plate in September. Considering that he effectively became the catcher of the future after being acquired in a low-stakes deal following the team's decision to part with Kyle Teel in the Crochet blockbuster, it's pretty awe-inspiring how good Narváez has been. This most recent stretch is perhaps his most promising -- he's hitting .294/.351/.588 this month with a team-leading .294 ISO -- especially in the face of the adjustments he's had to make to recover from his months-long cold stretch.

Wong, on the other hand, has not been anyone's favorite Red Sox player this year. He's been a mess at the plate (.204/.270/.255) and has been routinely floated as a DFA candidate if the team could ever find a more suitable backup catcher. However, that never came to pass, and now, Boston is reaping the benefits. In an admittedly small sample in September, the five-year MLB veteran is hitting .357/.438/.500 with a 12.5% walk rate. Yes, we're only talking about 16 plate appearances, but his two extra-base hits (both doubles) are already one-third of his total prior to September. Wherever his fence-clearing power has gone, Wong is starting to make this version of himself work in the batter's box.

The fun news is that the batted ball metrics generally support the results. Both catchers' slash lines are being carried by unusually high BABIPs (.455 for Wong, .364 for Narváez), but that isn't totally a smoke-and-mirrors act.

Wong's ground-ball rate is a comical 54.5% -- and it's been near that rate all year, hence his absentee home run pop -- but he's pulling the ball at a team-leading rate (54.5% as well), and he has yet to make soft contact this month. His 36.4% hard-hit rate is his highest in a month since April, and it helps that he's seeing 4.313 pitches per plate appearance, up from 3.93 in the first half. Sure, it'd be nice to see him elevate the ball once in a while, but a backup catcher playing average defense (-1 DRS in 419.0 innings this season) can get by as a hitter who works the count and gets on base.

Narváez has been a tad more impressive down the stretch, despite pulling the ball just 25% of the time this month (last on the Red Sox). His 41.7% hard-hit rate ranks third on the team among all hitters with at least 10 PAs, and his 37.5% fly-ball rate is his best since June. Considering that he might be a Gold Glove finalist as a rookie (12 DRS behind the plate in 889.0 innings), it's hard to complain about the contributions coming from Narváez at the moment.

With Roman Anthony out for the rest of the regular season, the Red Sox were always going to need their role players to step up in order to maintain their place in the American League hierarchy. The recent struggles of Alex Bregman, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Nathaniel Lowe aren't helping the cause, but unexpected rebounds from Wong and Narváez certainly are. Can they continue to produce like this in October? Barring a miraculous return from Anthony, the answer to that question could decide the team's postseason fate.