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Red Sox catcher ‘takes care’ of hand issue with surgery; ‘I know the kind of player I can be’
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- Red Sox catcher ‘takes care’ of hand issue with surgery; ‘I know the kind of player I can be’
NEWTON — Red Sox catcher Connor Wong underwent surgery earlier this offseason to remove a carpal boss from his right hand. It was a hand issue he dealt with for years, not just in 2025.
“Going into this offseason, I felt pretty healthy, and I knew I was going to take a little bit of time off, and that was something I wanted to take care of for the last few years,” Wong said while he and other Red Sox teammates volunteered at the Wonderfund warehouse Tuesday, loading thousands of gift donations into cars.
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“Just didn’t really have the chance to (in previous offseasons),” he added. “And this year I felt like I had time, so I got to take care of it.”
According to Clevelandclinic.org , a carpal boss “is a bony overgrowth or lump on the back of your hand or wrist.”
“It was just something that was more like a nagging thing,” Wong said. ”It’s something I obviously could play through and I have in the past. It’s just something I wanted to clean up and get some more range of motion.”
Wong struggled offensively throughout the season after fracturing his left pinky finger early in April . The 29-year-old batted just .190 with a .262 on-base percentage, .238 slugging percentage, .500 OPS, no homers, eight doubles, seven RBIs and 16 runs in 63 games (188 plate appearances).
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Last offseason, the Red Sox had him focus heavily on improving his defense. He and the team didn’t discuss one main focus this offseason. He’s more focused on returning to the overall player he knows he can be.
“For me, it’s just be myself, and I know the kind of player I can be, and I’m looking forward to doing that,” Wong said.
Wong’s offensive numbers dropped significantly from 2024 when he hit .280 with a .333 on-base percentage, .425 slugging percentage, .758 OPS, 13 home runs, 24 doubles, one triple, 52 RBIs and 54 runs in 126 games (487 plate appearances).
He entered the 2025 season as Boston ’s No. 1 catcher, but he lost his starting job to Carlos Narváez while on the IL from April 8-May 2.
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“We felt like he was kind of on the cusp of breaking out (after 2024),” Breslow said. “And I think there’s a number of things that we could point to in ’25 that could explain why the performance wasn’t what we had anticipated. But still believe in the player that he is.”
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