Omar Narvaez

Omar Narvaez

31-Year-Old CatcherC
New York Mets
60-Day IL
Injury Calf
Est. Return 6/9/2023
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Narvaez bounced back offensively in 2021 with a .744 OPS, but he cratered again last season with a 71 wRC+. He had multiple stints on the injured list and played in only 84 games, and he failed to consistently make solid contact with an 18.4 percent hard-hit rate. Narvaez's defense was once again above average, but he was unable to move the needle offensively. It was poor timing for a down season amid a contract year, but he was still able to secure a one-year, $8 million pact for 2023 with the Mets. Narvaez should operate in the strong side of a platoon with Tomas Nido being the secondary option, but he may need a strong showing in spring training in order to retain that role later in the season. The Mets also has arguably the best catching prospect in baseball, Francisco Alvarez, waiting in the wings. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
#474
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Mets in December of 2022. Contract includes $7 million player option for 2024.
To begin rehab games Thursday
CNew York Mets
Calf
May 24, 2023
Narvaez (calf) will begin a minor-league rehab assignment Thursday with High-A Brooklyn, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Narvaez will probably remain at Brooklyn through the weekend before advancing to Triple-A Syracuse. He needs a lot of rehab at-bats because he's been out since early April due to a severe calf strain, but the 31-year-old catcher is pushing for a return to the Mets around early-to-mid June. It'll be a complicated situation in Queens if Francisco Alvarez, Gary Sanchez and Tomas Nido are all healthy and performing well at that juncture.
Read More News
Batting Stats
Loading Batting Stats...
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2023 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Loading Batting Game Log...
2022 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Loading Batting Game Log...
2021 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Loading Batting Game Log...
2020 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Loading Batting Game Log...
2019 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Loading Batting Game Log...
2018 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Loading Batting Game Log...
2017 MLB Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Scoring
FanDuel
DraftKings
Yahoo DFS
Loading Batting Game Log...
Minor League Game Log
Calculate Stats Over Time
Just click on any two dates.
Loading Minor League Batting Game Log...
Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
2
2
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+45%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+44%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+4%
OPS vs RHP
2021
 
 
+85%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021vs Left .495 115 10 1 11 0 .176 .270 .225
Since 2021vs Right .718 643 66 14 63 0 .255 .332 .386
2023vs Left .833 4 1 0 0 0 .333 .500 .333
2023vs Right .580 13 0 0 2 0 .273 .308 .273
2022vs Left .576 39 3 0 4 0 .212 .333 .242
2022vs Right .600 257 18 4 19 0 .205 .285 .314
2021vs Left .434 72 6 1 7 0 .152 .222 .212
2021vs Right .805 373 48 10 42 0 .289 .365 .440
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+14%
OPS on Road
2023
 
 
-100%
OPS on Road
2022
 
 
+37%
OPS on Road
2021
 
 
+7%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021Home .635 347 34 5 22 0 .220 .309 .326
Since 2021Away .725 411 42 10 52 0 .262 .333 .391
2023Home 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2023Away .639 17 1 0 2 0 .286 .353 .286
2022Home .492 128 9 1 6 0 .161 .260 .232
2022Away .675 168 12 3 17 0 .240 .315 .360
2021Home .718 219 25 4 16 0 .255 .338 .380
2021Away .767 226 29 7 33 0 .276 .345 .422
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Omar Narvaez compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
1.00
 
BB Rate
11.8%
 
K Rate
11.8%
 
BABIP
.308
 
ISO
.000
 
AVG
.286
 
OBP
.353
 
SLG
.286
 
OPS
.639
 
wOBA
.291
 
Exit Velocity
84.9 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
38.5%
 
Barrels/PA
0.0%
 
Expected BA
.323
 
Expected SLG
.364
 
Sprint Speed
19.0 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
30.8%
 
Line Drive %
38.5%
 
Fly Ball %
30.8%
 
Advanced Batting Stats
Loading Advanced Batting Stats...
Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
Loading Games Played by Position...
Loading MLB Defensive Stats...
Batted Ball Stats
Loading Batted Ball Stats...
Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
Want more matchup stats?
Loading Matchup Stats...
Our full team depth charts are reserved for RotoWire subscribers.
Subscribe Now
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Omar Narvaez See More
NL FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week
Yesterday
A couple familiar faces have been featured in Jan Levine's latest NL roundup.
MLB FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week
4 days ago
Jason Shebilske runs through top waiver-wire pickups in MLB FAAB Factor, including the return of Kyle Hendricks to the big leagues.
Fantasy Baseball Injury Report: The Risks of Sliding
49 days ago
Jeff Stotts explains the different types of injuries that may occur when sliding into a base either feet- or headfirst, as with Oneil Cruz who fractured his ankle sliding feet-first into home plate Sunday.
NL FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week
50 days ago
Erik Halterman shares his top National League pickups of the week, including Milwaukee's Brian Anderson.
MLB FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week
53 days ago
Jason Shebilske offers his top pickups of the week, including Aaron Civale, who threw seven scoreless innings in his season debut.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
Narvaez remained the Brewers' primary catcher in 2021 after a disappointing first season in Milwaukee during the shortened 2020 campaign. Though his results didn't return to the peak level of 2018 and 2019, several of his key metrics rebounded enough to allow for reasonable fantasy production. Narvaez's flyball rate returned to above 40% and his strikeout rate fell back below 20%, with a corresponding return in home runs (11) and batting average (.266). While those things alone are enough to provide fantasy value at catcher, Narvaez was also a rarity in that he consistently held a premium spot in the Brewers' lineup. Of his 123 games, Narvaez hit between second and fifth on 86 occasions. As a result, he ranked ninth among catchers in runs scored and 14th in RBI. Needless to say the results aren't spectacular, but Narvaez reassured fantasy managers that he is capable of reasonable production given the position.
Narvaez was a painful reminder for Milwaukee and many fantasy managers that regression is real. Milwaukee acquired the catcher from Seattle in a trade to replace the loss of Yasmani Grandal in free agency. Narvaez was coming off a big offensive year in Seattle, but the advanced stats showed he was well out in front of his skis and the performance would be very tough to repeat in 2020. The Brewers did not have many choices to add a serviceable veteran catcher to replace Grandal, so they took the risk and it failed spectacularly. Narvaez looked overmatched most of the short season, and while he could still earn his walks, he struck out at an alarmingly high rate, and just about every offensive measure had him in the both 10th percentile of the league. Surprisingly, his defense was much better than in previous seasons. Don't let recency bias settle in, but a rebound to 2018 is more realistic than a repeat of 2019.
Traded last offseason in exchange for Alex Colome, Narvaez went on to achieve a ninth-place finish among fantasy catchers. His .278 BA ranked second behind only Wilson Ramos at the position (min. 250 PA), while his 119 wRC+ ranked fifth. Taking advantage of the livelier ball, Narvaez more than doubled his previous career high of nine homers set the previous season. He did most of his damage off the bat against righties, though he got on base at a great clip against southpaws (.379). The Statcast numbers look troubling at a glance, but Narvaez is a medium-hit, all-fields, line-drive machine with a high BA floor relative to the position. While Narvaez's defense and framing leave quite a bit to be desired and could affect his playing time following a December trade to Milwaukee, he was still plenty valuable in real life despite those deficiencies and the park upgrade keeps him very much in the C1 mix.
Narvaez was a diamond in the rough at a wasteland position. Over the final four months of 2018, Narvaez hit .315/.401/.502 with nine home runs in 203 at-bats. He sacrificed some contact for the uptick in power, but that's OK when the landing is a 20.2% K-rate. Narvaez walked at an 11.8% clip, and when it was all said and done, he had a 122 wRC+, which ranked fifth among catchers with 200 plate appearances, behind Wilson Ramos, J.T. Realmuto, Yasmani Grandal and Francisco Cervelli. The hard-hit rate won't wow anyone, but Narvaez had a 29.0% line-drive rate, which would seem to give him a nice batting-average floor. Batting average floor is perhaps the best thing a catcher can provide fantasy owners; many catchers, especially the cheap ones, actively hurt you by draining batting average. With the move from Chicago to Seattle in late November, Narvaez downgraded parks but went from a 50-50 timeshare to a primary role.
Coming off a serviceable major-league debut in 2016, Narvaez was slotted in as the White Sox's Opening Day catcher. Eventually, Narvaez found himself in a three-headed timeshare behind the plate with veterans Geovany Soto and Kevan Smith. After Soto went down with an injury in early May, Narvaez and Smith split the catching duties the rest of the way, each finishing the season with 73 starts to their name. In his sophomore season, Narvaez posted a league-average 100 wRC+ on a .277/.373/.340 slash line while also playing solid defense. His already low power numbers did take a hit, but he was able to increase his batting average by 10 points while continuing to walk at an excellent 12.9 percent clip. The 25-year-old will likely see fewer opportunities with Welington Castillo signing with the White Sox, and his lack of power greatly limits his fantasy appeal to begin with.
Narvaez hadn't played an inning above High-A in his career prior to 2016, but he made a much bigger impact than expected. He began the campaign with Double-A Birmingham, but he only played 13 games there before he was promoted to Triple-A Charlotte. Although his results were modest at best (.245 batting average, 11 RBI, 14 runs), injuries in Chicago helped the backstop get the call to the big leagues, where he fared surprisingly well. His .267 batting average in 101 at-bats was more than serviceable considering the circumstances, and he impressed many with his plate discipline by posting a strong 14:14 K:BB ratio over that span. He certainly doesn't have the prospect shine that newly drafted Zack Collins has, but at just 24 years old, Narvaez has some room to grow over the years as he continues to face upper-level pitching. He should compete for the starting gig out of spring training if he can maintain this strong showing at the plate.
More Fantasy News
Poised to begin rehab stint
CNew York Mets
Calf
May 24, 2023
Narvaez (calf) expects to begin a rehab assignment by the end of the week, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Assignment coming next week
CNew York Mets
Calf
May 16, 2023
Narvaez (calf) will begin a rehab assignment next week, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Moved to 60-day IL
CNew York Mets
Calf
May 4, 2023
Narvaez (calf) was transferred Thursday from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Placed on 10-day IL
CNew York Mets
Calf
April 7, 2023
Narvaez was placed on the 10-day injured list by the Mets on Friday, retroactive to April 6, with a left calf strain.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.
Dealing with severe calf strain
CNew York Mets
Calf
April 6, 2023
Narvaez was diagnosed with a medium-to-high grade strain of his left calf Thursday and is expected to be sidelined 8-to-9 weeks.
ANALYSIS
Subscribe now to instantly reveal our take on this news.