The Red Sox are back to .500 as May begins, following a disappointing series loss against the Twins over the weekend. Heading into a three-game set with the Texas Rangers at Fenway starting Tuesday, Boston sits at 18-18 and 1.5 games back of the Yankees for the AL East lead.
A likely season-ending injury for Triston Casas leaves the Red Sox looking for answers at the first base position, with multiple replacement solutions floating around Red Sox Nation.
Aside from what the team decides to do at first base, the Red Sox also have another position battle as they got their Opening Day starting catcher back from the injured list.
Carlos Narvaez Should Stay in Lineup With Connor Wong Returning
Friday's win over the Twins marked the first game back from injury for Connor Wong, who suffered a fractured pinkie finger on April 7th. The injury would keep Wong on the injured list for a little less than a month, until the club reinstated him on May 2nd.
The #RedSox today reinstated catcher Connor Wong from the 10-Day Injured List. To make room, the club optioned catcher Blake Sabol to Triple-A Worcester.
— Red Sox (@RedSox) May 2, 2025
Upon returning from injury, Wong went 1-4 and 1-3 from the plate in his starts on Friday and Saturday. These two games bring his slash line to .133/.235/.133 in his 11 games played this season, and he has failed to hit any home runs or record any RBIs in his 30 at-bats.
Meanwhile, Carlos Narvaez, who saw the majority of games at catcher with Wong on the shelf, has been nothing but impressive since taking over in early April.
Narvaez has been able to produce from the bottom of the Boston lineup, slashing .214/,267/.369 with 3 home runs and 10 RBIs in 84 at-bats. His production has been far better than Wong's even before his finger injury, and until Wong can put together good at-bats and produce some runs for the Red Sox, Alex Cora should continue to roll with the 26-year-old Narvaez.
For the Red Sox and their fans, it's obviously a good thing to have Wong back after Blake Sabol struggled (2 hits in 16 ABs) during his time in the majors after being called up from Worcester. The main focus now is getting Wong back up to speed and looking like the player he was last year.
Coming off a career-best year in 2024, where Wong slashed .280/.333/.425 with 13 home runs and 52 RBIs, he has looked far from the player he was last season. The good news is it's still early, and Wong can only go up from here.
While Wong figures out his approach at the plate, the club should continue to play Narvaez until they're proven otherwise. Another avenue for Wong to get at-bats could be first base, but it might be hard for Cora to take Romy Gonzalez out of the lineup after his hot start.
Gonzalez has been stealing the show at first base before and now after the Casas injury, and should continue to earn his at-bats, but Wong also has experience at first should the club need another player to fill in the void left by Casas' devastating injury.
The Red Sox catcher situation will be one to monitor as the team starts a three-game set with the Rangers on Tuesday at Fenway Park. Lucas Giolito will be making his second start and first in front of the Fenway Faithful this season, as the Red Sox try to string a couple of wins together after a disappointing past week.