Red Sox's Trade Steal From Yankees Just Made 53-Year Boston History

No one could have foreseen Carlos Narváez having this sort of impact as a rookie for the Boston Red Sox.

Narváez arrived in Boston in a trade with the New York Yankees on the same day in December that Boston acquired new ace Garrett Crochet. He wasn't guaranteed to win the backup job behind Connor Wong, much less to assume the starting role at any point this season.

Fast-forward to July, and there are those who say Narváez is an All-Star "snub." And though he doesn't have the kind of numbers that make you wince at his exclusion from the Midsummer Classic, those folks do have a case.

Narváez has been great defensively since he first took up the crouch, but his bat has been a hugely impactful surprise. In Wednesday night's game against the Colorado Rockies, he even made a bit of history with a home run and a double.

According to MassLive's Christopher Smith, Narváez's pair of extra-base hits put him in the company of a franchise icon when it comes to power output by a catcher before the All-Star break.

"From the Red Sox media relations staff: Carlos Narváez's 26 extra-base hits are the second most by a Red Sox rookie catcher before the All Star Break behind just Carlton Fisk’s 40 in the first half of 1972," Smith wrote on X.

Narváez may not be Fisk, but to keep that sort of company as a rookie who really wasn't supposed to be playing most of his team's games represents a seriously impressive feat.

On the season, Narváez is now slashing .280/.354/.453. He's been batting somewhere between third and fifth in the order on nights he plays, though that could change with the imminent return of Alex Bregman and Masataka Yoshida getting reacclimated to the lineup.

Catching is the most physically demanding position in the sport, so it will be intriguing to see if Narváez can keep this up in the second half. But he's already exceeded expectations and completely validated the trade with New York.