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Connor Sun-Han Wong is the son of Rachel and Matthew Maysey. He has one brother, Jordan.
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In 2014, Wong graduated from Pearland High School in Texas. He was First Team All-State as shortstop in 2014.
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Connor was off to the University of Houston, honoring his baseball scholarship.
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In 2016, Wong was a Cape Cod League All Star. He hit .313/.354/.442 with 51 hits and 3 home runs in 41 games for the Bourne Braves.
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June 2017: Wong was the Dodgers #3 pick, out of the Univ. of Houston. Connor signed for $547,500 with scout Clint Bowers.
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In 2018, the Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Wong as the 18th-best prospect in the Dodgers organization. He was at #15 a year later, early in 2019 and that is where he was, back at #15 in the spring of 2020.
After being acquired by the Red Sox, Connor was their 15th-best prospect in the spring of 2021, but he fell to #29 in the spring of 2022, but he moved up to #20 in the spring of 2023.
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2020 Spring Training Q&A:
MLB Pipeline: You didn’t begin catching until later in your college career at Houston. Did you have any experience at the position prior to that?
Connor Wong: Yeah, I had a little bit of experience. Growing up, I just played everywhere – just bounced around. It was kind of the way of Select ball, I guess.
MLB Pipeline: It seems like you’ve really embraced the position, refining your craft to become a good defensive catcher.
Wong: I love catching. I’m always working to become a better catcher, because there are always areas to improve. That’s goal – keep working hard and have fun. Luckily, I’ve been able to do that.
MLB Pipeline: Obviously you were traded fairly recently. So, what were you doing when you received the news that you were going to the Red Sox?
Wong: Just getting ready for the season. I was in Arizona, working out and training out there with the Dodgers staff. The news broke, I found out and came right over here.
MLB Pipeline: About your work with the Dodgers . . . you worked with them to create some more lift in your swing to hit for more power. What specific adjustments did you make along the way and what did the Dodgers implement?
Wong: I think some of that is just getting deeper in the zone with the barrel and catching the ball more out front. But with that comes swing-and-miss, which is something we’re now working on eliminating.
MLB Pipeline: Speaking of catching the ball out in front, it looked like you did exactly that the other day when you hit that grand slam at JetBlue. What was that experience like?
Wong: It was really cool. I had the bases loaded in my first at-bat that day and didn’t get any RBIs. The next at-bat I was just looking for a pitch to hit to get something in the air, at least for a sacrifice fly, and obviously it went out.
MLB Pipeline: Overall, how has your experience been so far in Red Sox camp? Have you been able to soak it all in? Any players whose brains you’ve picked so far?
Wong: A lot of soaking it in, a lot of just talking to everyone here and there. Really just trying to do my best to work hard and have fun and enjoy everything.
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MLB debut (June 2021): Connor got a little bit of a tease of the big leagues on June 22, when he was called on to pinch-run in the 11th inning and ultimately scored the game-winning run in a Red Sox win over the Rays.
But there was no teasing on Saturday night, June 26. When the lights came on at Fenway Park against the Red Sox’ heated rivals, he was more than ready for the moment.
Wong earned his first career start and didn’t look like a rookie at all in the Red Sox’ win over the Yankees. The catcher recorded his first career hit in his first major league at-bat, and he was calm and cool behind the plate on what was surely a memorable night for him as he helped the Sox hold on to their 4-2 victory and a series win.
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2023 Season: During his first full MLB season last year, he struggled to find a rhythm at the plate. In 403 plate appearances, he posted a .235 batting average and struck out 134 times.Wong had a hit in 53.4% of his games last season (62 of 116), with multiple hits in 17 of those games (14.7%).Out of the 116 games he logged a plate appearance last season, he homered in eight contests (6.9%), leaving the yard in 2.2% of his trips to the plate.Wong scored in 37.9% of his games this season (44 of 116), with two or more runs scored in nine of those contests (7.8%).He plated a run 26 this year in 116 tries (22.4%), including driving in multiple runs in 7.8% of games (nine times) and producing three or more of his team’s runs on one occasion..Wong went down on strikes in 77.6% of his 116 games a season ago, with two or more strikeouts in 29.3% of those contests (34).
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June 24-27, 2024: Connor was on the paternity list.
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2024 Season: After McGuire's offense dwindled, the Red Sox were forced to play Wong more often, either behind the plate or out of the designated hitter slot. The excess of work caught up to him, and he finished the year batting .280/.333/.425 with a .758 OPS after batting well into the .300s for much of the first half. He played 126 games in 2023 and 2024 but struck out 20 fewer times in the latter season (114).
TRANSACTIONS -
June 2017: Wong was the Dodgers third-round pick, out of the Univ. of Houston. Connor signed for $547,500 with scout Clint Bowers.
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Feb 9, 2020: In a three-team blockbuster trade:
–The Red Sox get OF Alex Verdugo, SS Jeter Downs and C Connor Wong from the Dodgers.
–The Dodgers get OF Mookie Betts, LHP David Price and cash from the Red Sox.
–The Dodgers get RHP Brusder Graterol, OF Luke Raley, and the 67th pick from the 2020 draft from the Twins.
–The Twins get RHP Kenta Maeda, a minor leaguer and cash from the Dodgers.
Nickname: | N/A | Position: | C |
Home: | N/A | Team: | RED SOX |
Height: | 6' 1" | Bats: | R |
Weight: | 180 | Throws: | R |
DOB: | 5/19/1996 | Agent: | N/A |
Uniform #: | 12 | ||
Birth City: | Houston, TX | ||
Draft: | Dodgers #3 - 2017 - Out of Univ. of Houston (TX) |
YR | LEA | TEAM | SAL(K) | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | OBP | SLG | AVG |
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2017 | AZL | AZL-Dodgers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
2017 | MWL | GREAT LAKES | 27 | 97 | 19 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 26 | .336 | .495 | .278 | |
2017 | AZL | GLENDALE | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
2018 | CAL | RANCHO CUCAMONGA | 102 | 383 | 64 | 103 | 20 | 2 | 19 | 60 | 6 | 2 | 38 | 138 | .350 | .480 | .269 | |
2019 | TL | TULSA | 40 | 149 | 17 | 52 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 31 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 50 | .393 | .604 | .349 | |
2019 | CAL | RANCHO CUCAMONGA | 71 | 274 | 39 | 67 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 51 | 9 | 2 | 21 | 93 | .306 | .507 | .245 | |
2021 | TAE | WORCESTER | 50 | 199 | 22 | 51 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 26 | 7 | 1 | 9 | 58 | .288 | .442 | .256 | |
2021 | AL | RED SOX | 6 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .357 | .538 | .308 | |
2022 | IL | WORCESTER | 81 | 323 | 47 | 92 | 20 | 0 | 15 | 44 | 7 | 3 | 27 | 80 | .346 | .486 | .285 | |
2022 | AL | RED SOX | 27 | 48 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 16 | .273 | .313 | .188 | |
2023 | AL | RED SOX | $722.00 | 126 | 371 | 55 | 87 | 25 | 2 | 9 | 36 | 8 | 2 | 22 | 134 | .288 | .385 | .235 |
2024 | AL | RED SOX | 126 | 447 | 54 | 125 | 24 | 1 | 13 | 52 | 8 | 7 | 28 | 114 | .333 | .425 | .280 |
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Wong said he kept his approach simple at the plate, just looking for good pitches and trying to hit them hard. He has sneaky power, driving them out of left field when he connects—a pull-heavy approach. He has below-average bat speed, limiting his overall offense. And he strikes out a lot—31 percent of the time in his career (as of the start of the 2021 season). He is vulnerable to off-speed pitches.
After struggling to control his strikeout rate in past years, Wong committed to a flat bat path with minimal pre-swing movement in 2022. That led to fewer swings-and-misses and more walks, but also a preponderance of liners and ground balls while rarely tapping into his wiry strength. Still, he has a chance to get on base enough to be a serviceable bottom-of-the-order hitter who runs extremely well for a catcher with average speed. (Alex Speier - BAPH - Spring, 2023)
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Wong has wiry strength that helped contribute to solid power totals in the Dodgers system, but against Triple-A competition, pitchers exploited his pull-heavy approach by pitching away and getting weaker contact. He showed the ability to diversify his swing and line the ball to the opposite field in his big league cameo, giving hope that he could develop into a fringy hitter, though perhaps without much power. (A Speier - Baseball America - Spring 2022)
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After Wong used more of a controlled approach in college, Los Angeles got him to turn his right-handed swing loose and lift more balls in the air. His wiry strength and the loft in his right-handed swing give him legitimate power to all fields. But his 31 percent strikeout rate leads to questions about how he'll fare against more advanced pitchers. A slight adjustment to his hip action helped him go off in Double-A, but he'll probably need to moderate his aggression in the future. (Spring 2021)
The ball jumps off his bat.
Connor is an aggressive hitter who jumps on fastballs and drives them to the gaps.
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Connor has grown as a hitter. He has good plate discipline. He's still pretty aggressive, often jumping on first-pitch fastballs. But he struggled in 2018 after pitchers adjusted and started him with breaking stuff.
Wong's power is significant, though it comes with an aggressive approach that leaves him vulnerable to swings and misses. He struck out 30.8% of the time in 2019 while walking just 6.9% of the time.
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2020 Season:
C Connor Wong, MLB Pipeline club ranking: No. 19, 2021 Opening Day Age: 24
Acquired as the final piece in the trade that sent Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers, Wong arrived in the Red Sox's organization and immediately became their best catching prospect. He is a right-handed hitter with power to all fields, above-average speed for a backstop and the positional versatility to project as a utility player if things don’t work out behind the plate. Wong will get a chance to catch first, though, given how thin Boston's system is in that department.
- Offensively, his maximum exit velocity is in the 88th percentile and his barrel% is above average (53rd percentile). Wong has batted .240/.292/.394 with 22 doubles, seven home runs, 29 RBIs and five stolen bases. He has been worth 1.9 WAR but provided even more value. His intangibles have really helped Boston’s pitching room.
Brian O’Halloran, general manager: “In his first full big-league season, Connor has been a reliable contributor on both sides of the ball, carrying a heavy workload behind the plate. He puts the pitcher first, controls the running game and continues to improve defensively. He’s also had some big hits for us.” (Bowden - Aug 24, 2023 - The Athletic)
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Connor is a solid defender behind the plate. He oozes athleticism. Plus, he is a willing student who soaks up info, from video to metrics, to help his pitchers.
Pitchers gave him solid reviews for his game-calling and his framing numbers in both Triple-A and the big leagues were solid. Wong has a plus arm and averaged 1.92 seconds on his pop times on throws to second base in the big leagues, though runners were successful on 15 of 18 stolen base attempts. (Alex Speier - BAPH - Spring, 2023)
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Wong is a terrific athlete who has emerged as a capable presence behind the plate. He’s refined his receiving to the point of being at least average behind the plate, and while he has just average arm strength, his quick feet and transfer allow him to do a decent job of controlling the running game. (A Speier - Baseball America - Spring 2022)
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Faster than most catchers, Wong has shown plus speed in the past but is settling closer to average as he spends more time behind the plate. He continues to improve his receiving and throwing with more experience and should be at least average in both regards. He also provides capable defense at second and third base, giving him plenty of utility value if he can't make it as a regular. (Spring 2021)
Wong receives the ball well. His lack of experience shows up in blocking pitches, especially to his right.
Connor has calm and controlled actions behind the plate as well as an ability to adjust and learn quickly in such nuances as switching his receiving from an approach where he funnels pitches to the body to one where he works under the ball and receives pitches away. (Aug 2020)
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Wong has the versatility to play second base and the outfield. Connor says he doesn't have a favorite defensive position.
“I just like playing,” he said in 2017. “Wherever coach decides to put me that day then I’m going to have fun playing there and do my best.”
- Connor's arm is rated 55 or 60 on the 20-80 scouting scale.
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Connor Wong has been a key to Boston’s surprising contending season thanks to the faith the Red Sox pitching staff has put in his game preparation and calling. His pop time to second base is in the 83rd percentile and his sprint speed is in the 75th percentile. He’s thrown out 25 percent of the runners trying to steal on him (league average is 21 percent). He doesn’t grade well on framing, but he makes up for it with the fingers he puts down.
(Bowden - Aug 24, 2023 - The Athletic)
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August 11-18, 2018: Wong was on the DL.
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March 3, 2023: After leaving a spring training game with a left hamstring injury, manager Alex Cora labeled it a Grade 1 strain. His timetable to return to action is TBD.
"We’ll see how it goes. I think treatment will determine what’s next," said Cora. "We have to calm him down first and then we’ll know more throughout the week.”
March 21, 2023: Though Wong hasn't played in a Grapefruit League game since suffering a Grade 1 strain of his left hamstring on March 2, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said the catcher could be ready for the start of the season.