The Red Sox’s Catchers Are a Problem Without a Solution

Entering the 2026 season, Carlos Narváez appeared to have Boston’s everyday catcher role locked down.

Coming off an impressive rookie campaign, in which he finished sixth in American League Rookie of the Year and was a finalist for the Gold Glove, Narváez looked to position himself as one of the top young catchers in MLB.

Fast forward to today, and Narváez sees himself splitting time in the lineup with Connor Wong and Mickey Gasper, something nobody saw coming, including Narváez.

In an interview with The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey, Narváez said, “It wasn’t expected, I’m not going to lie, it’s not easy.”

With Narváez’s future now in question for the Boston Red Sox, the three-headed catcher problem grows large.

The Red Sox can go about fixing their problem in a few ways. Whether that be the trade market, their farm system, or just letting Narváez work through his slump. Whatever it is, they have to do something swiftly.

All stats updated before play on June 18.

Carlos Narváez Is Slumping

Narváez ended his rookie campaign with a slash line of .241/.306/.419 and 2.7 fWAR. His defense is what stood out the most, as he led the league in runners thrown out with 32, along with +9 FRV and 10 DRS. Even more impressive was the fact that he did this with an injured knee throughout the majority of the season.

In just his first season, it was clear that the clubhouse was behind Narváez, and he took on a role as a leader of the team. He even earned the nickname of “The Captain,” a name once given to fan favorite Jason Varitek.

Varitek was key in helping develop Narváez over 2025, meeting before and after every game for feedback. Narváez even went as far as to call Varitek his second father.

The start of his sophomore campaign hasn’t been kind to him, however.

Early in the season against the Houston Astros, the Red Sox benched Narvaez for showing up late for a pregame meeting. And so far this year, Narváez has slashed .207/.278/.298 with 0.3 fWAR. That’s highly disappointing in comparison to his hot start last season, as up to this point, his slash line was .277/.364/.450 with 2.0 fWAR.

Manager Chad Tracy has left Narváez out of the lineup in most games in June, with him only appearing in four games out of a possible 14.

With Varitek no longer on the coaching staff, is a lack of mentorship one of the causes for these struggles? Or is it just a sophomore slump? Whatever it may be, it has seemingly demoted Narváez down to third-string catcher.

The Backup Tandum of Gasper and Wong

In the wake of Narváez struggling at the dish, Boston has resorted to Mickey Gasper and Connor Wong.

Gasper, who came back to Boston in the offseason off a waiver claim, was called up from Triple-A Worcester in May and got off to a quick start. His .333 batting average and .756 OPS in May suggested that the Red Sox had found a new productive catcher.

In June, however, Gasper has fallen back to Earth, currently sitting on a .190 batting average and a .562 OPS for the month. His season fWAR now sits at 0.0.

Boston’s third choice to play behind the dish is Wong, who has been with the major league team since 2021. After an extremely rough 2025 season, he has surprisingly been the best offensive catcher for the Red Sox. He’s currently posting a .266/.356/.367 slash line, the most productive out of the catching trio.

However, Wong doesn’t possess the defensive upside that Narváez has shown.

Since his first full season in 2023, Wong’s pop time has increased, and he ranks as the 14th-worst framer so far this season. The Red Sox can’t rely on both Gasper and Wong so heavily. They need to pick one of the two to split time with Narváez.

Having all three on the major league roster only restricts each of their playing time and, more importantly, valuable development time for Narváez.

If the Red Sox were going to send one back down to Worcester, my vote would be for Gasper.

Down On the Farm

While Worcester has Jason Delay and Matt Thaiss as potential options this year, a more interesting idea sits in Double-A Portland.

Johanfran Garcia, also known as “The User Name,” has been tearing it up at Hadlock Field. In just 37 games this season, he’s slashing .307/.354/.562 with 11 home runs and 31 RBI.

Garcia also just won Eastern League Player of the Week after batting .519 with two home runs and 10 RBI.

He isn’t ready for the majors just yet, as he still needs to improve his chasing and reduce swing-and-miss issues. But Triple-A isn’t too far of a possibility for him this year.

If Boston gets desperate for a spark or injuries continue to pile up, Garcia could earn a call-up. In a season that is trending in the wrong direction, giving young guys like Garcia a shot closer to the end of the year doesn’t hurt.

What Comes Next?

With the trade deadline slowly approaching, and the Red Sox likely selling when it comes, will they make a move? Reportedly, there’s interest in their catcher logjam, specifically in Wong.

Narváez’s youth and team control make a trade unlikely, and Gasper probably won’t command much on the trade market.

If the Red Sox deal Wong at the deadline, could a Narváez-Gasper tandem provide enough production to support a turnaround?

Gasper is already coming back down to earth, and at 30 years old, he certainly isn’t a long-term solution. Garcia is extremely unlikely to break the major league roster this year, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

We’ve seen that Chad Tracy seemingly has a fondness for playing the guys he managed in Worcester, meaning Delay and Thassis are likely the front-runners for filling any possible catching roles this season.

As for Narváez. He’s struggling right now, but that doesn’t mean Boston should give up on him already. He has proven he can be one of the top defensive catchers in the league.

Offensively, he’s in a rough stretch and is struggling on pitches he thrived on last year. He has a .205 batting average on breaking balls this season, compared to .275 last year. He’s also whiffing on offspeed pitches 32.3% of the time, a jump from 24.1% last season.

Catchers aren’t immune to sophomore slumps. Gary Carter, after being an All-Star in his rookie year, struggled in his second year. Yadier Molina had a -0.3 fWAR in his second full season.

This isn’t saying that Narváez is a future Hall of Famer, but instead saying that even some of the greatest catchers the league has seen went through similar struggles.

Narváez became a leader in the clubhouse for a reason. His teammates respect him, and he sets himself as an example for the rest of the squad.

Instead of complaining or demanding a trade after his lack of recent play, Narváez accepted it.

“It’s a different year, different situation, and I’ve got to be a professional. I’ve got to be ready to play every day, no matter what the situation is, just be ready,” Narváez told McCaffrey.

Narváez hasn’t given up on Boston, and Boston shouldn’t give up on him.