Omar Narvaez: Mets Back Up Catcher (2023 - 2024)
Omar David Narvaez was born February 10th, 1992, in Maracay, Venezuela. As a youth he played more soccer than baseball. The five foot-eleven catcher is known as "Narvy'.
He was originally signed a contract at age 16 with the Tampa Rays. From 2009-2013 he played in the Rays organization at the low levels thru A-ball. He was then drafted away (Rule V) by the Chicago White Sox.
MLB Career: On July 17th, in his first at bat Narvaez debuted with the White Sox, hitting a double off the Angels Jared Weaver. He stayed with the club the rest of the season batting .267 hitting his first career HR on September 30th in a 7-3 win over the Twins.
In 2019 Narvaez had his finest year as the Mariners main catcher. He batted .278 with career highs in hits (119) HRs (22) & RBIs (55).
On April 18th he hit a three run HR & drove in four runs in an exciting 11-10 win over the Angels in Anaheim.Walk Offs: On May 13th, Narvaez had his first walk off hit, a single off the A's Joakim Soria in the bottom of the 10th inning.
On September 14th he hit a walk off HR off the White Sox, Alex Colome, the player he was traded for from Chicago.
That December he was traded to the Brewers in exchange for Adam Hill. In the 2020 Covid shortened season he hit just .176. In the NLWC series he played in two games going 0-1.
Catching A No Hitter: On September 11th, he was behind the plate calling Corbin Burns & Josh Hader's combined no hitter in a 3-0 victory over the Indians at Cleveland. It was just the second no hitter in Brewer history as he joined Bill Schroeder who caught Juan Nieves no hitter in 1987.
Behind the plate he threw out 22% of would-be base stealers. He was one of four Brewers to represent the team in that years' All-Star Game.
2021 ALL Star Game: Narvaez entered the Mid-Summer Classic at Coors Field, Colorado in the 6th inning, getting two bats, collecting a single off Liam Hendriks in the 9th inning of the 5-2 AL win.
2021 Post Season: In the NLDS loss to Atlanta he batted .375 with an RBI single off Charlie Morton in the final third game loss.
In 2022 he missed time on the IL in August & shared time with Victor Caratini behind the plate. He batted just .206 with 4 HRs & 23 RBIs. At the end of the season he was granted free agency & signed with the New York Mets.
Mets Career: Narvaez started the season as the Mets main catcher, as Francisco Alvarez had been optioned to AAA Syracuse.On April 1st, he collected two RBI's with a single & a sac fly in the Mets 6-2 win in South Florida.
After just five games into the season he was batting .286 but then suffered a calf injury that put him on the IL for two months. When he returned, the Mets designated Tomas Nido for assignment & he assumed the role of Wilson Alvarez's back up.
On July 20th, Narvy hit his first HR of the year, coming in a 6-2 loss to the Cubs. He didn't hit his next & final HR of the season until his final game on September 30th, coming in a 4-3 win at Philadelphia. On the year he put together four multi-hit games as a Met.
Torrens Narvaez was designated for assignment.
Career Stats: In his nine-year career, Narvaez has 507 hits with 83 doubles 2 triples 53 HRs & 203 RBIs. He struck out 435 times with 240 walks, posting a .334 on base % & .708 OPS.
Behind the plate he has thrown out 19.4% of would-be base stealers, turned 20 double plays with 233 assists. He made 46 errors in 4922 chances posting a .991 fielding %.
Family: In 2016 Omar & his wife Yisa were married, together they have two children.