NEW YORK -- Tuesday night, the itch that Carlos Narváez experienced a year ago will finally subside, providing a perfect culmination to a surreal season in which he went from a backup catcher candidate for the Red Sox in Spring Training to team cornerstone and a rock behind the plate entering the postseason.
In Game 1 of this AL Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium, Narváez, a 26-year-old rookie, will participate in his first career postseason game.
The itch? That happened in last year’s World Series, when Narváez was in the Yankees dugout as part of the team’s taxi squad.
Having spent the better part of nine seasons in the Yankees’ farm system, Narváez got a six-game cameo with New York in 2024. He made enough of an impression to be on the stay-ready crew in case of emergency during the playoffs.
There he was, with a front-row seat in the dugout for a World Series that New York lost to the Dodgers in five games. But then again, not really a part of it.
“My feet were itching,” Narváez said. “I wanted to play. But everything that’s happened, it’s been for a reason. Even when I wasn't playing, I think it prepared me this year to be in this position right now.”
It isn’t often the Red Sox and Yankees, age-old rivals, make a trade in the first place. But after Boston traded top catching prospect Kyle Teel as part of the package that landed ace Garrett Crochet last December, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow made a much less-heralded subsequent deal later that same day, sending Minor League pitcher Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz to New York for Narváez.
The Red Sox, who didn’t have the same organizational catching depth as the Yankees, provided Narváez with an instant chance to make an impact during Spring Training, and he made the team as Connor Wong’s backup.
When Wong suffered a broken left pinkie finger on April 7, Narváez vowed he would do whatever he could to hold down the fort while his teammate was out.
Talk about seizing an opportunity: Narváez wound up supplanting Wong as the team’s No. 1 catcher.
In Fielding Run Value, Narváez tied for third amongst MLB catchers (12) this season. His mark of +6 Blocks Above Average is tied for seventh. Narváez also finished second with +9 Caught Stealing Above Average. And his solid output of +5 in framing runs tied him for eighth. He finished in the 87th percentile or higher in all four of those key defensive metrics.
“I feel so proud of that,” Narváez said. “It was a lot of work in the offseason. But having this opportunity to be back in the postseason with Boston, and starting the postseason here in New York, it’s crazy how baseball works.”
In his time with the Yankees, Narváez made an impression on the most impactful player in Pinstripes.
“Narvy is a hard worker, a great teammate, one of the best we ever had over here,” Aaron Judge said in June. “I was sad to see him go, but excited for the opportunity he's getting. Everybody loved him. He outworked everybody in this room. So it doesn't surprise me he's having the success he is this year."
While defense has always been Narváez’s calling card, he proved this season he can hit in the Major Leagues.
In 118 games (446 plate appearances), Narváez had 27 doubles and 15 homers, finishing the season with a respectable .726 OPS.
Like many catchers, his offensive numbers took a dip late in the season as the rigors of a long season took a toll. But the right-handed hitter is feeling refreshed again, having come up with some key hits in the final week of the season that helped the Red Sox punch their ticket to October.
“I know that I always had a good bat, but of course I had to prove it,” said Narváez.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora quickly became a believer, saying even before Wong got hurt that Narváez was going to get his share of playing time.
“What he's done throughout the season is eye-opening,” Cora said.
The Yankees, Cora says, deserve credit for the player Narváez has blossomed into.
“Defensively he's really good. What they do here with the Yankees behind the plate is something that everybody knows,” Cora said. “They're great at that, They've had some good defensive catchers throughout the years, and Carlos is a product of their system. It just happened that they had so many that they needed to trade somebody, and it was him.”