Breslow ‘really excited’ about backup catcher Carlos Narvaez following offseason trade
The Red Sox landed a backup catcher this offseason after they acquired catcher Carlos Narváez from the Yankees for minor league pitcher Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz. Boston is also sending $250,000 of international bonus pool space money.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow addressed the media on Monday and shared his excitement for the team’s new backstop.
“He’s a guy that we’re really excited about,” Breslow said about Narváez. “What we saw out of him in winter ball, I think, only enhances or reinforces that we think he’s a great complement to Connor. That doesn’t mean that we’ll stop looking, but I think we brought Narvy in because of what he brings offensively but also, more specifically, in terms of pitch framing and receiving. We really good about that.”
Narváez has hit the cover off the ball playing for Cardenales de Lara, where he’s hitting .377 with five homers, 18 RBI, seven doubles, and five stolen bases with a .456 on-base percentage, a .662 slugging percentage, and a 1.118 OPS in 25 games.
The 26-year-old made his major league debut last season, playing in six games with the Yankees. He went 3-for-13 with three singles, two walks, and six strikeouts. Defensively, he threw out 1 of 2 base stealers.
Narváez was considered one of the best defensive catchers in the Yankees’ system entering the 2024 campaign. In his limited stint at the big league level, his pop time was 1.92, according to Baseball Savant. Narváez’s bat is more of a question mark versus his defensive profile. He was in the 90th percentile in exit velocity at 105.2 mph while missing 31% of the time.
It’s not set in stone that the Red Sox will roll into the regular season with Connor Wong and Narváez as their catching tandem. Boston could look to add a veteran free agent to split time with Wong behind the dish. Veterans James McCann, Yasmani Grandal, and Elias Díaz are all potential external options, with Seby Zavala as an internal option after he signed a minor league deal earlier this offseason.
