Red Sox manager Alex Cora explains reasoning for last-second catcher change for Wild Card game two against Yankees

Red Sox manager Alex Cora explains reasoning for last-second catcher change for Wild Card game two against Yankees originally appeared on The Sporting News

The Boston Red Sox made a head-scratching move today; instead of giving Brayan Bello his normal catcher, Connor Wong, they opted to go with Carlos Narvaez instead.

Sox manager Alex Cora revealed the reasoning behind it, and stated it’s not the first time he decided to pull the pitcher’s personal catcher for someone else he thought would be better.

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“Just Narvi’s putting good at-bats (together). I’ve been through this before. Sandy (Leon) was (Rick) Porcello’s personal catcher, and then he wasn’t, right? Connor has done a good job with Bello, but I don’t think having Narvi behind is going to change a thing. We’re going to attack the same way. He’s a good defender. He knows him,” Cora stated (via Christopher Smith).

Narvaez is the better hitter between the two. This season, he slashed .241/.306/.419/.726 with 15 home runs and 50 RBI. Wong, on the other hand, slashed .190/.262/.238/.500 with zero homers and only seven RBI. However, to be fair to Wong, he did much better in his final 25 games, hitting .225 with six RBI.

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Hopefully, this is the right move by the Sox, and Narvaez shows why he should be in over Wong offensively. Also, here’s hoping Bello does just as well working with Narvaez as he did with Wong.

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