Omar Narváez

Omar David Narvaez Beltran

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 215 lb.
• High School Instituto Escuela Maracay
• Debut July 17, 2016

• Born February 10, 1992 in Maracay, Aragua Venezuela

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Biographical Information

Catcher Omar Narvaez made his professional debut in 2009 at 17 years old. The Tampa Bay Rays as an undrafted free agent on July 4, 2008.

With VSL Rays in 2009, he slashed .315/.390/.394; the next year, with the same club, he hit .308/.420/.371. After slumping his first year stateside in 2011, he rebounded to hit .305/.380/.384 for the Princeton Rays in 2012. The Chicago White Sox took him in the 2013 Rule V Draft.

He was a Mid-Season All-Star, a Post-Season All-Star and a MiLB.com Organization All-Star in 2015. He reached Triple-A for the first time in 2016, and despite hitting just .239/.291/.314 between two levels that year, he was promoted to the majors on July 6. He didn't debut until July 17. Starting for the White Sox against Jered Weaver and the Los Angeles Angels, Narvaez doubled in his first at-bat, then later scored on an Adam Eaton double.

He began his major league career with a .444/.600/.500 line through his first 25 plate appearances. He finished his first season at .267 with 1 homer and 10 RBIs in 34 games. He then became the White Sox's primary catcher over the next two seasons, 2017 and 2018, playing 90 and 97 games respectively. He hit .277 with 2 homers and 14 RBIs the first year, then found some more production the second by hitting .275 with 9 homers and 30 RBIs. That was actually good for an OPS+ of 120, quietly making him one of the more productive catchers with the bat in the American League. Following the season, however, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners in return for RP Alex Colome on November 30th, the Sox jumping on the chance to acquire one of the better closers available at a discount. He had another good year with the bat with the Mariners in 2019 as he hit .278 with 22 homers and 55 RBIs in 120 games, good for an OPS+ of 120. However, the Mariners had a lot of depth at the catching position, with Tom Murphy and Austin Nola having both played well too, so they dealt him on December 5th to the Milwaukee Brewers in return for minor league P Adam Hill and a Compensation Round A pick in the 2020 amateur draft. The Brewers had just lost their starter in 2019, Yasmani Grandal, to free agency.

His first season with the Brewers, the pandemic-shortened 2020 season was not one to remember fondly, as he batted just.176 with 2 homers and 10 RBis in 40 games, his OPS+ plummetting down to 53. He did play in the postseason for the first time, striking out in his only at-bat against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Wild Card Series. One would not have expected him to be a potential All-Star heading into 2021, but that's exactly what happened as he was named to the National League team for the 2021 All-Star Game. He had a very good all-around season as the Brewers' regular catcher, batting .266 with 11 homers and 49 RBIs in 123 games as the Brewers won a division title. His OPS+ bounced back to 100. In the Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, he went 3 for 8 with a double and an RBI, appearing in three of the four games. On July 5, 2022, he took over as the major league player with the most plate appearances without a stolen base when 1B Jesus Aguilar of the Miami Marlins stole his first bag after 700 games. Narvaez still had a clean rap sheet after 1,963 plate appearances at that point.

Notable Achievements

• NL All-Star (2021)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2019)

Related Sites

• Omar Narvaez on mlb.com