Red Sox Must Make This Change To Lineup After 28-Year-Old's Latest Blunder

Major League Baseball lineups don't have to be set in stone, but it helps to define roles when possible. Right now, the Boston Red Sox need to define two players' roles.

Coming into the season, the Red Sox had a clear starting catcher in Connor Wong, and a clear backup in Carlos Narváez. Everything that has transpired since, though, indicates that the roles should now be the other way around.

Wong struggled to begin the year, got hurt in mid-April, then came back in early May and is struggling again. Meanwhile, Narváez has been shockingly good, especially in the batter's box, which was not anticipated given his limited big-league experience coming into the season.

Boston manager Alex Cora has already given Narváez two of the three starts in each of Boston's last three series. But there's no reason not to take things to the next step. Narváez has earned the right to start whenever his legs are fresh enough, and Wong doesn't deserve the benefit of hte doubt anymore.

We're also not the only ones who believe Narváez should be the pseudo full-time starter, either. Red Sox color commentator and former third baseman Will Middlebrooks agrees.

“The catcher position. I wouldn’t say it’s a question. It’s more just how they’re going to handle it with Connor Wong because right now Narváez is the guy,” Middlebrooks said on this week's episode of "Sox Talk with Will Middlebrooks.”

“He needs to play five days a week. Defensively, he is a better player. That shows in the metrics. He’s arguably one of the best defensive catchers based off the metrics in baseball — him and Williams Contreras. As far as defensive runs saved, blocking, framing, which is still important with now ABS system.”

Wednesday night's game was a perfect encapsulation of the two players' seasons. Narváez went 2-for-3 with a walk, and got himself on base to lead off the top of the ninth inning as the go-ahead run. His OPS stands at .767 now, which would be the sixth-best among all catchers if he had enough plate appearances to qualify.

Then, Wong entered the game as a defensive replacement because David Hamilton had pinch-run for Narváez. And he immediately uncorked a wild throw over Trevor Story's head on an Andy Ibañez stolen base attempt to allow the winning run to move to third base with no outs.

Wong has earned credibility within the organization for his year over year improvements, but right now, he's unplayable. Perhaps some time in a more limited role will allow him to find his form, but for now, Narváez needs to be behind the plate as often as his legs can handle it.