The Red Sox’ five-game winning streak came to an end Monday night at Fenway, and they also lost their starting catcher in the process. Connor Wong went down early in Boston’s 6-2 loss to the Blue Jays, and now the Sox are bracing to be without him for an undetermined stretch.
Wong took a painful blow on his catching in the first inning on what was already a raw, rainy night. George Springer hit Wong on the left hand with his backswing, leading to a catcher’s interference call and, much worse, a fracture in Wong’s left pinky. The 28-year-old stayed in to complete the inning, but he did not return. Carlos Narvaez took over at catcher for the remainder of the evening.
“He has a small fracture in the pinky area,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters after the game. “He’s going to the IL. How long, we don’t know. But just, a late swing got him good. So we’re gonna have to make a move.”
Wong had been locked in as Boston’s primary catcher for the season, having shouldered the load the past two seasons with 126 starts in both ’23 and ’24. While the “small fracture” isn’t a season-derailing injury, it does leave the Sox thin behind the plate, where they have limited depth.
For now, the job falls to Narvaez, though it’s a steep ask for the 26-year-old, who’s seen action in just 11 big-league games. Narvaez has been off to a strong start at the plate this season (6-for-14 over his first four games), but was 0-for-4 in last night’s loss.
Beyond Narvaez, the Red Sox depth chart is thin. The obvious move would be to bring up Blake Sabol from Triple-A Worcester. Sabol, who’s on the 40-man roster, has some solid experience from his time with the Giants, where he played in 121 games over the last two seasons. He’s hitting .250 (5-for-20) with a pair of doubles and four RBIs for the WooSox this season.
Another option is veteran Seby Zavala, who’s got nearly 200 big-league games under his belt between stints with the White Sox, Diamondbacks, and Mariners. Zavala doesn’t offer much with the bat — a career .205 hitter, and just .111 through five games in Worcester — but he’s a well-regarded defender.
Zavala isn’t on the 40-man roster, but there’s room to add him after the club cleared a spot by dealing Quinn Priester to Milwaukee earlier Monday.
