HOUSTON — The Red Sox activated catcher Ali Sánchez, a recent acquisition, on Monday and optioned utility man David Hamilton to Triple-A Worcester.

Sánchez joins a 26-man roster that already has two catchers, Carlos Narváez and Connor Wong.

Manager Alex Cora said it makes sense to carry three catchers right now in order to manage Narváez’s workload. Narváez returned to the Red Sox lineup Monday after not starting the past four games due to knee soreness.

The Red Sox also are mindful the rookie catcher already has caught 716 innings, exceeding his previous career-high of 565 ⅓ innings between Double A and Triple A in 2023.

Narváez is just 5-for-45 (.111 batting average) with a .149 on-base percentage, .244 slugging percentage and .393 OPS in 13 games during the second half. He posted a .273/.347/.439/.786 line in 73 games (285 plate appearances) during the first half.

“Taking care of Narvi is important,” Cora said. “Understanding where he’s at physically, it makes sense. So we’ll see how it plays out.”

Wong — who has a minor league option remaining — has served as the backup catcher this season after being the starter the past two years. He has versatility, playing 65 ⅔ innings at first base, 29 innings at second base, two innings in left field and one inning at third base during his major league career.

“He’ll get some reps at first,” Cora said about Wong. “Take ground balls at second. And we’ll see how the roster looks in a few weeks.”

Cora said Sanchez — who has also played some first base in the minors and in the Venezuelan Winter League — “is willing to do whatever for the team.” The Red Sox claimed him off waivers from the Blue Jays on Friday,

“We’ll see how it goes,” Cora said. “I think it makes sense where we’re at right now. We’re going to miss Hammy. He was becoming a weapon late in games. We don’t have that speed factor, but for now, this is what makes sense for the roster, so we’ll roll with it.”

Sánchez, a 28-year-old native of Venezuela, batted .238 (5-for-21) with a .238 on-base percentage and .333 slugging percentage in eight games for the Blue Jays. He had two doubles and two runs scored but no RBIs while striking out five times. He also posted a .279/.347/.419/.766 line with six homers and seven doubles in 54 games (199 plate appearances) for Triple-A Buffalo this year.