The Red Sox made a move to add to their pool of catching depth earlier this week. Boston signed journeyman catcher Seby Zavala to a minor league contract with a spring training invite, according to MLB’s transactions log. Zavala won’t occupy a 40-man roster spot.
Currently, the Red Sox have only two catchers on the roster: starter Connor Wong and utility man Mickey Gasper. BETTING: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts. Zavala, 31, is a veteran of 194 big league games with the White Sox (2019-23), Diamondbacks (2023) and Mariners (2024).
The Texas native split last season between Seattle (18 games) and Triple-A Tacoma (33 games), providing early-season depth behind starter Cal Raleigh before being shuttled off and on the 40-man roster throughout the year. He didn’t hit at either level (. 154 in the majors, .
188 in the minors) and hasn’t been much of an offensive threat in the big leagues, logging a career . 205 average with 15 homers, 56 RBIs and a . 613 OPS.
He’s a right-handed hitter whose best offensive season came in 2022 with the White Sox when he hit . 270 and had a . 729 OPS in 61 games.
He has struck out at a 35. 9% clip in the majors. Zavala’s value comes on the defensive side of the game.
In 2023, when he logged 73 big league games, he was ranked in the 87th percentile among MLB catchers in blocks and the 77th percentile in framing. At this stage, he seems like less of a top backup option and more of a defensively capable depth piece at Triple-A. Those kind of catchers have value as emergency fill-ins at points during the season even if they provide little with the bat.
Barring a trade, the Red Sox once again project to have Wong, who started 99 games behind the plate in 2024, as their starter to begin 2025. Top prospect Kyle Teel is not expected to start the season in the majors after just 28 games at Triple-A down the stretch but is expected to factor into the big league mix at some point, potentially in the first half. With late-season backup Danny Jansen a free agent, Boston is expected to add someone to pair with Wong as a bridge to Teel for the first half.
The free agent market for backstops has moved quickly with Travis d’Arnaud, Austin Hedges and Jacob Stallings already signing. “We’ll certainly explore opportunities to get better,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said at the GM Meetings earlier this month. “That includes potentially in kind of a backup role to Connor or however things shake out.
”The Zavala signing continues a trend under Breslow of stocking the upper levels of the minors with plenty of catching depth. Last winter, with Wong and Reese McGuire projected to split time in the majors, Breslow brought in Tyler Heineman, Roberto Perez, Mark Kolozsvary and Gasper as depth pieces. Seven different players ended up catching for the WooSox at different points.
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