Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong is not in the team's starting lineup on Friday for the series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Fenway Park. Danny Jansen will do the catching for right-hander Brayan Bello and will hit seventh against Diamondbacks right-hander Ryne Nelson. Predictably, Wong has come back down to Earth since the All-Star break after a scorching first half. The 28-year-old backstop has gone hitless in 11 plate appearances with two strikeouts in his last four contests and is hitting only .236 (25-for-106) with three homers, seven RBI, 12 RBI and 33 strikeouts in 28 games since the All-Star break. Wong is still slashing a strong .286/.340/.426 on the year with 11 homers and 44 RBI as Boston's primary catcher. Jansen has gone 9-for-35 (.257) with two homers and five RBI in his first 13 games for the Red Sox.
Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong retreats to the bench for Wednesday's contest against the visiting Texas Rangers at Fenway Park. Danny Jansen will do the catching for right-hander Tanner Houck and will bat fifth against Rangers right-hander Dane Dunning. Wong has really stepped up as Boston's primary catcher in 2024, hitting .295 (97-for-329) with 11 homers, 43 RBI and six stolen bases in his fourth year in the big leagues. Advanced metrics continue to say that Wong is due for serious regression to close out the year, but he's managed to hit .289 (13-for-45) so far in 10 games in the month of August with a homer, three doubles, seven RBI and a stolen base. Since being acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline at the end of July, Jansen has gone 7-for-19 (.368) with two homers and four RBI in seven games for Boston.
Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong will take a seat on the bench for Saturday's contest against the visiting Houston Astros. Danny Jansen will do the catching for right-hander Josh Winckowski and will bat fifth against Astros rookie right-hander Spencer Arrighetti. Wong was on a tear to kick the season off but has considerably cooled off at the plate and could use the day off after going hitless in his last nine at-bats with five strikeouts in his last two games played to snap a five-game hitting streak to open the month of August. Since the All-Star break, he's hitting .247 (18-for-73) with two homers, five doubles, eight RBI and 24 strikeouts in 18 games. The 28-year-old is still having a fine season as Boston's starting catcher, though, with a .293/.351/.432 slash line, a .783 OPS and a career-high 10 home runs and 40 RBI in 88 games played.
Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong is not in the team's starting lineup for Wednesday's series finale at Coors Field against the hosting Colorado Rockies. With Wong on the bench, Reese McGuire will do the catching for right-hander Nick Pivetta and will bat seventh against Rockies right-hander Cal Quantrill. The 28-year-old Wong will get a breather after starting the previous four games and after going 0-for-5 with a strikeout in Tuesday night's 6-0 shutout win over Colorado. Wong has come down to Earth offensively since his absurd start to the 2024 season, but he's still hitting an impressive .297 (78-for-263) with nine home runs, 33 RBI, five stolen bases and 32 runs scored as Boston's starting backstop. DFS managers can find better sleeper options at catcher than McGuire, who is hitting only .215 (29-for-135) on the year with three homers and 18 RBI.
The Boston Red Sox announced on Thursday that they have reinstated catcher Connor Wong from the paternity list and optioned catcher Tyler Heineman to the minors in a corresponding move. The team also sent right-hander Isaiah Campbell to Triple-A Worcester. The Red Sox have an off day on Thursday before opening a series on Friday at Fenway Park against the visiting San Diego Padres. Wong will be back in there then as the team's starting catcher. Although the underlying metrics show that the 28-year-old backstop is due for some regression in the second half of the season, you can't argue against his breakout season to this point with a triple-slash line of .330/.390/.480 with seven home runs, 29 RBI and 26 runs scored in 200 at-bats. Get him back into your lineups for Friday's action.
The Boston Red Sox placed catcher Connor Wong on the paternity list on Monday and recalled catcher Tyler Heineman from Triple-A Worcester in a corresponding move. Wong will now miss up to the next three days while tending to a personal matter. Reese McGuire will handle the catching duties for Boston on Monday and will bat eighth against Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt. Heineman will back up McGuire while Wong is away from the club this week. Fantasy managers should expect the 28-year-old Wong to next suit up on Friday against the San Diego Padres. While he's certainly due regression in the second half of the year, Wong is as hot as can be right now and currently is riding a 13-game hitting streak that has seen him go 17-for-48 (.354) with two homers and 10 RBI since June 6. He's hitting .330/.390/.480 with an .870 OPS, seven homers and 29 RBI in a breakout season.
Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong and outfielder Rob Refsnyder are both out of the starting lineup on Saturday versus the visiting Detroit Tigers. Reese McGuire will do the catching for Boston and will bat seventh, while Enmanuel Valdez will serve as the designated hitter and bat fifth against Tigers right-hander Reese Olson. Wong has been a revelation for fantasy managers this year with a .329/.371/.473 slash line with an .844 OPS, five homers and 19 RBI, but his xBA of just .259 signals that regression is likely coming for the backstop. Still, fantasy managers need to keep riding him while he's hot. Refsnyder has also swung a hot bat so far in 2024, going 29-for-87 (333), and the 33-year-old should continue to play regularly with Tyler O'Neill (knee) and Masataka Yoshida (thumb) both on the injured list. O'Neill could be returning next week, though.
Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong is out of the starting lineup ahead of Tuesday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. This appears to be a routine rest day for Wong. The Red Sox will play matchups and have Reese McGuire behind the plate versus a right-handed starter. McGuire will bat seventh versus righty Zack Littell on Tuesday. Fantasy managers should adjust their lineups before first pitch.
Connor Wong, Tyler O'Neill Not Playing Against Rays
Boston Red Sox catcher Connor Wong and outfielder Tyler O'Neill will not be in the team's starting lineup on Thursday against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays. Reese McGuire will catch Cooper Criswell and will bat seventh, while Rob Refsnyder will start in left field and hit in the No. 3 spot against Rays right-hander Zack Littell. Wong is hitting a remarkable .340/.370/.530 with five home runs and 15 RBI in his first 100 at-bats in 2024, but with an xBA of .340, he leads all of baseball with the biggest different in actual average and xBA, so fantasy managers should expect some eventual regression in that department. He also has an wOBA of .391 and an xwOBA of .309. O'Neill could use a day off after striking out seven total times in the last two games to drop his season line to .256/.371/.554 with a .924 OPS, 10 home runs and 16 RBI in 121 at-bats.
Boston Red Sox backstop Connor Wong is not in Saturday's lineup after starting the previous two games. Reese McGuire will serve as the backstop for starting pitcher Cooper Criswell. Wong has had a great start to the young season with a .360/.385/.581 line with five long balls through 25 games. Wong should be expected to return behind the dish on Sunday. McGuire enters Saturday with a solid .270/.361/.381 line with three swiped bags and two home runs. McGuire will be batting in the seven-hole against Jake Irvin and could be a sneaky play in DFS, who enters Saturday's game with a 3.72 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.
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