Kevin Parada is one of four catchers in spring camp as non-roster invitees. The Mets right now only have two catchers on their 40-man roster, so for all four NRI catchers (Parada, Jakson Reetz, Hayden Senger and Chris Williams), there is a lot of opportunity this spring.

Before the 2023 season, Parada was one of the key prospects in the Mets system. He was ranked as a top-100 prospect in baseball by Baseball America (#50), MLB.com (#36) and Baseball Prospectus (#64). This made sense, right after getting drafted by the Mets in 2022 he went on to hit .275/.455.425 (.880 OPS) over 60 games.

Kevin Parada, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

The last couple of seasons though things haven’t been as good for Parada. Over three levels in 2023, he slashed .248/.324/.428 (.751) over three levels, but a paltry .185/.250/.389 (.639 OPS) in 14 games with Binghamton. Last season was even worse, hitting .214/.304/.359 (.663) in a full season with Binghamton.

While Kevin Parada was struggling, the farm system around him changed. Francisco Álvarez arrived to the majors and looks like the catcher of the future for the Mets. The Mets system also gained Daiverson Gutierrez, Ronald Hernandez and Yovanny Rodriguez. All the while, Parada hasn’t hit and turned in extremely poor defense at the catcher position. He’s had—wait for this—226 steals against him while catching in 232 games. He’s caught just 57 runners at a 19.7 caught stealing percentage, but Parada is giving up a stolen base every game.

Parada has an advantage here though, as he should be separated by at least one minor league level from the aforementioned names, giving him a critical 2025 season. This spring he’s competing against Hayden Senger who has been in the Mets system since 2018, and Chris Williams who was in the Twins system since 2019 (and never made the majors). Plus, there is Jakson Reetz who has major league experience.

It’s cliche to say that players come to the camp in the best shape of their lives, but Kevin Parada made some major changes over the off-season, leading to him dropping 15 pounds.

Here’s what we are looking for this spring for Parada:

  • Getting on base every game he has a chance to play in. The Mets do not have an obvious depth chart after Torrens and Parada can hit his way up the charts.
  • Who is he catching? When is he catching? Does he outlast the other three catchers he is competing against? Can he throw anyone out on the base paths?
  • Do the Mets play Parada anywhere but catcher?