When Kevin Parada was drafted by the New York Mets as the 11th pick in the first round of the 2022 draft, everyone took notice. Parada was a very highly regarded catcher coming out of Georgia Tech with their single-season home run record.
Many of you may remember that the Mets received that 11th pick as compensation for not signing Kumar Rocker in the 2021 draft. So although the Rocker pick was a bad memory, the Parada pick made everyone (almost) forget about it.
Parada was a touted high school star out of Loyola High School in Los Angeles who somehow was unselected in the 2020 draft after hitting .390 with 66 RBI in his senior year. His swing translated well to the college game, as he was a starter from day 1, playing 112 games over two years and crushing 35 homers with 130 RBI. His collegiate career slash line was .340/.420/.638. He received many awards during his brief collegiate career including the 2022 Johnny Bench award and a unanimous first team all-America pick. He also represented the USA on the national collegiate team in the summer of 2021.
After Kevin was drafted by the Mets, he was assigned to the rookie league for a few games, and then promoted to low-A St. Lucie for the last ten games of the season. His first full season in professional ball was split between St. Lucie, high-A Brooklyn, and the AA Binghamton Rumble Ponies. Despite his rapid rise through the minor leagues, Parada has had his first taste of adversity as the pitchers he faced became more skilled. Over his first 118 professional baseball games he has compiled a modest .251 average and a .765 OPS. Parada was also selected to play in the Arizona Fall League where he hit .194 with a .657 OPS in a short season that was made shorter by an ankle injury.
Don’t expect that to keep him down. Parada is a hard worker and will come to camp in great shape ready to work with the Mets pitching staff and the hitting coaches. His defense is sound and improving and I expect his bat to come around this season, particularly if he starts it in AA with returning hitting coach Darin Everson who is familiar with his swing.
In AA, Parada will have an excellent opportunity to work with a solid core of rising pitching stars. The roster is not yet set, but in the end of the 2023 season, Parada worked with Dom Hamel, Tyler Stuart, Christian Scott, Blade Tidwell, Joander Suarez, and Paul Gervase on the way to the Eastern League championship series. By the way, Parada was also central to the St. Lucie team that won the championship in 2022. Hopefully we will see him extend that winning pedigree.
12 comments:
I was thrilled when the Mets signed him. Injuries have slowed down his path. Still, this is not some high school kid still growing. Parada has proven himself in college with the same bat that is beginning to fail him now. 2025 is a critical year for his baseball future.
Expect a big improvement this year.
They were stealing him blind early in 2023. After that is percentage wasn’t bad. Not great, but much improved. I think you’ll have a bounce back season and be right back out on the radar screen. He has to be ready for when Omar‘s Contract runs out. And if they trade, Omar midseason, it would be nice if Parada was ready by then, although that might be too aggressive. Alvarez has shown that really good players come fast, and Parada was such a good hitter in college that maybe he’ll come fast this year too.
As an objectivity check, however, Kevin is not in the MLB top 10 catcher prospects. Really know why you can sugarcoat that he hast to play better.
Parada might be Vientos Pt 2,no position,lots of strikeouts.
Contact is an area that Parada has to work hard on this year. He has the power to drive the ball, but his K rate has doubled from College to Pros.
Parada will be interesting to watch this year. Hopefully we will see a reduction in his K rate.
There are a couple other players in the system that are looking at 2024 as a more critical year.
Alex Ramirez just turned 21 last month, but really needs a bounceback year. Here's hoping he starts in Binghamton and plays well.
I would also like to see Matt Allan reestablish himself as a bona fide prospect.
Parada,Ramirez,Allen,prospects you never know
Bill and Paul, FWIW, Rhylan Thomas was #22 in Prospect 1500’s Top 50, and JT Schwartz at #47. That is a big difference.
FWIW if Vientos gets hi shot he might surprise people. Maybe 230-240,20 and ,65. That’s pretty good.
That is an interesting ranking of Thomas and Schwartz. I like Thomas a lot, but am afraid that a lack of power will hold him back. Somehow I expect the power will come for Schwartz, probably we'll see it more this year.
Bill, that’s what makes baseball interesting
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