Connor Wong expected to land on IL due to broken finger

Red Sox

“He’s going on the IL. How long? We don’t know.”

Connor Wong exited Monday’s game in the first inning. (Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff)

The Red Sox lost their starting catcher during Monday’s eventual 6-2 loss to the Blue Jays.

Boston played most of Monday’s game without backstop Connor Wong, who exited the contest in the first inning after a swing from George Springer hit his gloved hand.

While Wong remained behind the plate for the remainder of the inning, he was then replaced by Carlos Narváez for the rest of the night.

Boston initially tabbed Wong’s early exit as a result of a hand contusion, but Alex Cora had a more dour update after the game wrapped.

“He has a small fracture in the pinky area,” Cora told reporters. “He’s going on the IL. How long? We don’t know. Just a late swing got him good. So, we’re going to have to make a move.”

“It swelled up and was numb,” Wong added of his injury. “Obviously I was able to catch the ball afterward so I was hopeful. But it was just kind of numb.”

With Wong sidelined moving forward, the starting catching role will turn to Narváez — who is off to a strong start to the 2025 season with Boston. Acquired by Boston in an offseason trade with the Yankees, Narváez is currently batting .333 with three doubles and four RBI across five games with the Red Sox.

But even if Narváez can hold his own while Wong is on the mend, Boston will need to call up a backup catcher moving forward — with MassLive’s Sean McAdam reporting that the team will call up Blake Sabol from Worcester ahead of Tuesday’s game against Toronto.

Sabol — who is the only other catcher currently on Boston’s 40-man roster — is batting .250 with two doubles and four RBI across six games with Worcester this season.

The 27-year-old catcher has appeared in 121 career MLB games with the Giants — batting .313 with over 11 games with San Francisco last season.

“Tough loss for us,” Narvaez told McAdam of Wong’s injury. “Nobody wants that. Connor has been a very important piece for us. Hopefully, he’s going to be back soon. In the meantime, while he’s out, I’m going to take accountability to help the team win every game.”