The Orioles have known their plan at catcher every season since Adley Rutschman was drafted first overall in 2019. But now that Rutschman himself has been traded away, there are question marks at the position moving forward. Samuel Basallo will obviously factor into it, though it seems like the team prefers him to spend at least half of his time at DH. That leaves a void behind the plate without a clear solution. Carlos Narváez got first crack at the job in the post-Rutschman era, and it did not
go particularly well.
Narváez was part of the return package in the deal that sent Rutschman (and fellow catcher Jake Rogers) to Boston. While more than a “throw in”, Narváez was certainly not the headliner in the haul coming back to Baltimore. That distinction belongs to either Anthony Eyanson or Enddy Azocar, two of the four prospects included in the deal. But Narváez’s inclusion was still important, because it gave the Orioles what seemed to be a viable option behind the plate to at least buy them time to figure out what comes next.
Heading into 2026, Narváez was expected to share the catching role in Boston with Connor Wong in what would be a competent duo with modest upside. Narváez had been quite good in 2025, posting a 100 OPS+ in the box while being a highly-regarded defender behind the dish. Both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference valued him at 2.8 WAR on the season.
The 2026 season, however, was more of a struggle. Narvaez was OK through May, owning a .220/.298/.321 batting line, though he had just seven extra base hits over 37 games. Even still, his glove was good enough to keep him in the lineup. But that didn’t matter much by the end of June. Narváez slumped badly, hitting .097/.143/.129 on the month. And it was not much better in July, where he put together a .172/.242/.276 slash line.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox surged, going 21-4 in July, and clawing their way back into the playoff race. Narváez was a weak link, and the team sought out an upgrade at the position. They would end up landing one of the biggest fish of the trade season, and they paid a steep price to do it, acquiring Rutschman from the Orioles on August 3. Narváez went in the other direction.
When Narváez arrived in Baltimore, he stepped back into an everyday role. Basallo was on the IL at the time, which left Yohel Pozo as the only other active catcher on the roster. It was Narváez’s job for the time being.
The Venezuelan-born backstop brought his ice cold bat with him to Baltimore. Through his first 15 games, he went 3-for-41 with two walks and 14 strikeouts. After that, his production ticked up, but just barely. From August 25 through the end of the season, Narváez hit .139/.244/.167 with one double, three walks, and 10 strikeouts. In his 33 games as an Oriole in 2026, Narváez had one extra-base hit and zero RBI.
While it would be ideal for a team’s major league catcher to be viable as a hitter, it is less important than the work he does on defense. And fortunately that is where Narváez shines.
According to Baseball Savant, Narváez was worth five fielding runs over the entire 2026 season, which ranks him in the 76th percentile of all fielders. His top skill appears to be blocking. He had 13 blocks above average, which is in the 99th percentile. Nine of those 13 came with the Orioles, even though he had half as many block opportunities compared to his time spent with the Red Sox. He also receives plus marks for his pitch framing, and prior to 2026 he had strong numbers in steal prevention as well, though that can be impacted by his battery mate.
MASN’s Roch Kubatko said last month that he expects the Orioles to be “in the market for another catcher with more offensive upside” than Narváez this offseason. That tracks with how the team has explained their plans at the position. Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias said in Augustthat the “plan with [Basallo] was always to kind of rotate him though and have him catch more like half or fewer than half of the games.” That set-up requires a legitimate primary catcher on the roster to play the lions share of defensive innings. Right now, it does not seem like the Orioles have that person in the organization.
That said, it is still reassuring to have Narváez on the roster. He is a major league caliber defender, will play the entire 2027 season at just 28 years old, and he has minor league options remaining. If the team is able to land an upgrade at the position, they would then have better organizational depth at catcher than they did all of 2026, which required substantial time on the big league roster for Pozo and Sam Huff.
The Orioles do have two interesting catching prospects that could be ready for big league reps sometime in 2027. Creed Willems spent most of 2026 in Norfolk, where had a .254/.347/.414 batting line, but there are questions about his defensive mechanics as a catcher. Ethan Anderson is right behind Willems in terms of development. He just had a cup of coffee in Triple-A last year, but had a big year in Double-A (.271/.363/.518) and could be the better offensive fit in the near-term.
Narváez will factor into the Orioles 2027 catching plans in some way. He has useful skills and offers roster flexibility. But he has already squandered his best chance to prove that he should be trusted as the team’s primary backstop going into the season. Now, if they hope to compete, the O’s will need to look elsewhere.
