The Red Sox, coming into 2025, were expecting to see a wave of young players come in and have an impact on the team. No doubt, one has stood out among the others and while that’s encouraging, it’s also somewhat of a surprise. That’s because Carlos Narvaez did not come into the season with a lofty ranking on a list of prospect, but he’s been one of the forces that has held this very uneven season together in Boston.
Narvaez was acquired last December in a trade with the Yankees, after he had made his MLB debut for New York with four starts behind the plate and a 3-for-13 (.231) result at the plate in six games. Narvaez spent most of the year in Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he hit .254 with 11 home runs, and 58 RBIs in 96 games.
He has come into Boston and wrested the catching job from Connor Wong, in part because of injury to Wong, but also because he’s simply been the better player, behind the plate and with the bat. Narvaez is batting .277, and with Alex Bregman injured and Rafael Devers gone, he is among the leaders on the team with an OPS of .843. He has primarily been the team’s cleanup hitter for the past month.
Carlos Narvaez Ready to Sink or Swim
The concern, though, as MassLive’s Christopher Smith pointed out, is that Narvaez may be playing too much, too soon.
Writes Smith: “Narváez has already caught 471 ⅓ innings — just 94 innings shy of his career season-high in pro ball. He caught 565 ⅓ innings between Double A and Triple A in 2023.”
The worry is that Narvaez might wear down in the second half of this year. That’s exacerbated by the fact that Narvaez played winter ball in Venezuela, as he usually does, during this offseason. He is looking at a very heavy load relative to what he’s done in the past.
On the flip side, Narvaez is 26 years old and has been playing pro ball for nine years. At some point, it’s sink-or-swim, and you show you can either handle the load or you can’t. That’s the approach of Alex Cora.
“At one point you have to play,” Cora said. “That’s how it works. And he’s been very productive. He’s one of the best defensive catchers in the big leagues. Offensively, he’s been one of our best hitters, so we have to play him.”
Red Sox Gave Up Pitching Prospect
And there is something at stake for the Red Sox in making sure that Narvaez works out. To bring him in, the team traded away one of their top prospects, right-handed pitcher Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz, who is only 21 years old and pitching in high-A baseball. But he is now the No. 6 prospect on the Yankees’ MLB ranking, and has gone 5-2 with a 2.59 ERA this season.
The Red Sox’s system, for all the positional talent, is sorely lacking in pitchers, so to give up a top prospect for Narvaez adds a bit of pressure.
As MLB.com wrote of him: “Rodriguez uses his 6-foot-3 frame and athleticism to get down the mound well and create quality extension that throws off hitters’ timing. He uses a simple side-step delivery with a high leg kick, and he’s still learning to keep his long limbs in sync and repeat his mechanics. That should become easier as he continues to get stronger, and he’ll reach his mid-rotation starter ceiling if he develops average control.”
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