At the beginning of the season, it seemed like Kristian Campbell was going to run away with the Rookie of the Year award, or at the very least be the best candidate the Boston Red Sox had.
Campbell had gotten off to a hot start through April, was holding down second base defensively, and seemed like he didn't need any sort of lengthy adjustment period to the big leagues. However, May and June came, and Campbell's output fell off a cliff, leading to his demotion back to Triple-A Worcester. It seemed that any ROY hopes for the Red Sox were dashed.
That is, until Carlos Narváez established himself as the best catcher on the team. After Connor Wong fractured a finger in early April, Narváez stepped right into the lineup and established himself as an everyday-caliber catcher. The 26-year-old has been great for the Sox offense, hitting .270 in 58 games, with a .795 OPS. His biggest highlight undoubtedly has been his walk-off against the Yankees, his former team, but Narváez has been a great addition that the Red Sox acquired for a bargain. It appears that the rest of the baseball world is taking notice, too.
Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez asserting himself in AL Rookie of the Year race
In its most recent ROY poll, MLB.com ranked Narváez second in the race behind current award favorite Jacob Wilson of the Athletics. Red Sox fans definitely expected to see one of their young stars towards the top of those rankings at the beginning of the year, but Narváez wasn't among the likeliest candidates. Recent call-up Roman Anthony currently sits in fifth place in the same rankings, and Marcelo Mayer sits just outside of the top five, so those two still have plenty of time to climb.
Narváez is getting some much-deserved recognition for his contributions to this Red Sox team. After sending away Kyle Teel in the Garrett Crochet trade, Wong's injury seemed like a death knell to getting any production out of our catcher this season. But Narváez saw his opportunity to make an impact with the Red Sox, and he has run with it ever since.
At this point, it wouldn't be surprising for the Red Sox to try to move on from Wong at the trade deadline and ride with Narváez through the rest of this season. He has earned the trust of Alex Cora and the fans, and maybe Narvaez can still threaten for the ROY award come season's end.
