Heading into the 2025 season, the Boston Red Sox had three top 15 prospects: No. 11 shortstop Marcelo Mayer, No. 6 second baseman Kristain Campbell, and No. 2 outfielder Roman Anthony. 56 games into the season though, catcher Carlos Narvaez, the anticipated backup catcher, has emerged as the premier rookie as he is second in fWAR among rookies.
Connor Wong was originally the starting catcher, but he started the season 2-23 with a -20 wRC+ and .149 wOBA before being placed on the injured list April 8. Despite an attempt at platooning the two upon Wong’s return, Narvaez has taken over the starting catching role and emerged as a key piece for the Red Sox.
Among all catchers with at least 50 plate appearances, Narvaez is tied for third in fWAR, only behind Mariners Cal Raleigh and Dodgers Will Smith. This is in part due to Narvaez’s elite defense behind home plate. At 341.2 innings, Narvaez is in the 91st percentile in framing (2.7 FRM) and is tied with Giants Patrick Bailey in DRS by a catcher. Additionally, Narvaez has 5 Blocks Above Average (98th percentile) and 2 CS Above Average (89th percentile). All of this combines for a Def of 7.7, which is fourth among all catchers with at least 20 innings caught.
Here is how Narvaez’s defense compares to some of the other qualified strong defensive catcher with their ranks in parenthesis.
| FRM | DRS | rSB | FRV | Def | |
| Narvaez | 2.7 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7.7 |
| Bailey | 5.8 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 12.1 |
| Kirk | 3 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 9.3 |
| Moreno | 5.6 | -2 | -1 | 6 | 10.4 |
| Wells | 4.4 | 3 | -1 | 4 | 7.1 |
While Narvaez isn’t the number one defensive catcher in the league, his numbers are right up there with the best. Narvaez has also given the Red Sox a reliably every day catcher on both sides of the ball, as even with Wong’s 110 wRC+ in 2024, he had poor defensive metrics. In only 40 games, Narvaez’s 1.4 fWAR is tied for fourth by for a single season for a catcher for the Red Sox since 2015.
In 152 plate appearances, Narvaez’s slash line is .297/.362/.478 with an .840 OPS, 134 wRC+ and .368 wOBA. Narvaez didn’t start off hot at the plate, as in 22 games through April 30, Narvaez had an 80 wRC+ and .290 wOBA. In the month of May though, Narvaez has been one of the best hitters in the league. In 22 games in May, Narvaez has posted a .400(5)/.471(6)/.600(T-19), with a 1.071 OPS(13) 202 wRC+(11) and a .465 wOBA(10). The numbers in parentheses are Narvaez’s rank among hitters with at least 10 plate appearances in the month of may.
Part of his success during this hot streak is Narvaez is swinging at less pitches outside of the zone. Narvaez had a 37.4 O-Swing% in April, but has had a 28.2 O-Swing% in May, which has led to an 11.8 BB% this month, up from 7.1% in April.
It’s likely Narvaez is due for some regression offensively, as his underlying numbers don’t necessarily paint Narvaez as a 134 wRC+ hitter. Even with some regression due, his underlying numbers don’t suggest he’ll be any worse than below average. Narvaez’s xwOBA is .334, which if he ended the season with that as his wOBA, his wRC+ would likely be between 110-117. For the batted ball data, his Average Exit Velocity is in the 75th percentile, Barrel% in the 77th percentile, HardHit% in the 49th percentile.
For plate discipline, his BB% is in the 60th percentile, K% in the 39th percentile, Whiff% in the 31st percentile, and Chase% in the 41st percentile. These numbers show he’s closer to a wRC+ in the 110s, but with elite defense at a premier defense position, that type of offensive production is more than enough.
Narvaez wasn’t in the Red Sox organization until December 11. They acquired him when they traded right handed pitching prospect Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and international bonus pool space to their rival New York Yankees for the young backstop. In 42.2 IP in A+ for the Yankees, Rodriguez-Cruz has a 2.74 ERA, 3.15 FIP and a 3.75 xFIP with a 26.6 K% and 11.9 BB%.
As for the Red Sox’ top 15 prospects, Campbell has an 87 wRC+ in 47 games, Mayer is 4 games into his MLB career, and Anthony is in Triple-A with a 162 wRC+. Even with this surplus of high end prospects, it was the guy the Red Sox acquired for a A+ pitcher who has made the biggest contributions among rookies.
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