Red Sox catcher Carlos Narváez accepting of ball-strike challenge system for 2026 season

Boston Globe

3 days ago

'I saw it coming. It's going to be a little bit different,' he said. 'Maybe we'll need time to adjust, but as a catcher, the challenge system is good … It's going to be good for baseball and for the fans too. It's going to be interesting when you challenge and see everything on the scoreboard.'
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The tricky part for Narváez and others is the new arrangement stands to diminish a key skill of good catchers, pitch framing.
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With the Red Sox this season, his first playing regularly in the majors, Narváez has lived up to his minor league reputation as an excellent framer, able to make pitches outside the zone look like strikes with subtle mitt movements. Entering Sunday, Narváez ranked in the 96th percentile in framing, according to Baseball Savant, MLB's analytics website.
Through that lens, the challenge system is 'not going to be 100 percent good for us as catchers,' Narváez said.
'I know if I frame a pitch and it was a ball and I made it a strike, and they challenge that it's a ball, probably the umpire is not going to give me the same pitch [for the rest of the game],' he continued. 'OK, so you got to deal with it. But I think it's going to be good for us … Everybody is going to adjust. And every catcher is going to have the ability to still frame pitches.'
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Under the anticipated system, catchers, batters, and pitchers can challenge the umpire's ball/strike call. When a team is wrong two or three times (depending on which variation MLB selects), it isn't allowed to challenge for the rest of the game. So opportunities to steal strikes will remain.
Alex Cora
, noting that the Sox didn't get to use ABS much during spring training because their facility was not equipped with the technology, offered a diplomatic defense of umpires.
'We're trying to improve the game, right?' he said. '[Plate umpire is] the toughest job in baseball, to be honest with you. With the velocity, the movement, the catchers doing what they do behind the plate, it's a challenging job … They're human and it's a tough job and whatever we can do to make it better for them, I'm open to it.'
Crawford pushed back
The Red Sox delayed
Kutter Crawford's
bullpen session from the weekend to sometime this week, per Cora. Crawford had been on the brink of beginning a rehabilitation assignment before experiencing wrist soreness, setting back his return from a right knee issue.
Tanner Houck
(right flexor pronator strain) has 'a bullpen probably scheduled this week,' Cora said.
'Hopefully now we get going,' he added.
Seymour reaches The Show
Tampa Bay, which visits Fenway for a three-game set beginning Monday, called up 26-year-old lefthander
Ian Seymour
, a Connecticut native who grew up in Westborough and played for St. John's of Shrewsbury.
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Seymour, a second-round pick out of Virginia Tech in 2020, was 5-3 with a 2.95 ERA in 12 games for Triple A Durham. He has been a starter throughout his career but the Rays want him in the bullpen for multi-inning stints if needed.
Seymour did not pitch in Sunday's win 3-2 win over the Marlins in Tampa but his parents,
Amy
and
Albert
, were at the game along with his brother,
Elliott
. His sister,
Isabelle
, flew in from Philadelphia.
As the rotation turns
The Red Sox will keep their rotation in order with
Brayan Bello
,
Lucas Giolito
,
Walker Buehler
against the Rays … In his first start since being sent back to Triple A Worcester, righthander
Richard Fitts
allowed 4 runs, 6 hits and 2 walks in three innings Saturday. Perhaps most significantly, he threw 60 pitches, his most at any level since April 12, when he strained his right lat.
Peter Abraham of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Tim Healey can be reached at