Connor Wong's strong season gives the Red Sox a temporary solution at catcher

Connor Wong’s strong season gives the Red Sox a temporary solution at catcher originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Boston Red Sox are currently on a hot streak, as they have swept two of their last three series, and won 10 of their last 12 games. 

While this team has a chance to make the playoffs, they still might not be ready to be a contender, until they upgrade a few positions. One of them is catcher, which the Red Sox have not had a solid answer to for a while. Luckily, they have someone to cover this season, being Connor Wong.

Wong has been electric for Boston this season

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So far this year, Wong has been one of Boston’s better hitters in their lineup. He’s slashing .294/.387/.402/.789 with eight doubles, a home run and 15 RBI in 38 games played. 

Ironically, he’s been the backup this season to Carlos Narvaez, who was much more successful than him last year offensively, but hasn’t been this year. 

Wong has a history of being streaky

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In his career, Wong has been incredibly hot and cold. He doesn’t have streaks or cold patches either; he’s either good or bad for a whole season. 

Some examples are like this season, where he has been one of Boston’s hitters. Last season, he was one of, if not the worst, slashing .190/.262/.238/.500 with zero home runs and only seven RBI in 63 games. 

Yet, in the season before in 2024, he slashed a mean .280/.333/.425/.758 with 24 doubles, 13 home runs, and 52 RBI in 126 games. 

Wong’s future as a catcher in Boston is clear

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Keeping this pattern in mind, Wong should be made a starter for this season over Narvaez, so they can capitalize on his bat in a streaky offense. However, next season might be a different story.

In the end, Wong is a bridge catcher; he’s somewhere in the middle of being a starter or a backup. And, when that’s the case, it’s best to push them into being a really good backup. Hopefully, Narvaez figures it out, or the Sox go and find another catcher.

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