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18 hours ago
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The Boston Red Sox came into this season with only one proven catcher in Connor Wong, and they had traded their top catching prospect in Kyle Teel for Garrett Crochet. Little did they know that they would have a hidden talent in a rookie they picked up off their rival.
According to Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller, the Sox’ hidden gem is their catcher Carlos Narváez, who has had a breakout rookie season and is arguably one of the best catchers in the MLB.
“[Narváez] was never supposed to be Plan A at catcher for Boston. That was Connor Wong's job. Even Plan B was up in the air heading into spring training, with Narváez battling Blake Sabol and Seby Zavala to become the primary backup. He won that competition, though, and unexpectedly became Plan A when Wong landed on the IL less than two weeks into the campaign. But it was when Wong returned in early May that Narváez really began to shine, triple-slashing .346/.443/.538 over his next 32 games played, becoming Boston's primary clean-up hitter,” Miller wrote.
While Narváez has cooled down offensively since then, he’s still a defensive menace. He’s slashing .250/.321/.426/.747 with 13 home runs. He’s also a menace behind the plate, with nine outs above average, which is the best in the American League, and only two behind the best in the MLB.
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Narváez has truly been a great replacement after losing Teel, who’s gone on to tear it up for the Chicago White Sox. However, it was worth getting Crochet, and Narváez has been a great catcher, and looks like he’ll be around for a while.
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