After Kevin Plawecki‘s breakout 2013 season, along with his rising prospect status, the Mets have a rare commodity in today’s game– depth at catcher. Marc Carig of Newsday spoke to people within the Mets organization about Plawecki as well as their riches at one of baseballs thinnest positions.
“When you watch catching, it’s like everything kind of right now gets knocked up a peg,” one talent evaluator told Newsday. “Because there are no catchers, really.”
Sandy Alderson was quick to praise Plawecki, who was taken under the GM’s watch in the 2012 MLB Draft.
“He’s somebody we feel very highly about,” Alderson said. “He does have our approach and we like what he does behind the plate.”
Alderson also commented on whether having a surplus talent at the position would open the door for a potential trade.
“We’ll keep developing,” he said. “We’re happy it’s a strength. We’re not looking to trade from that strength necessarily.”
Manager Terry Collins also liked what he saw in Plawecki.
“Just watching him in BP, he has a clue,” manager Terry Collins said. “He squares it up pretty good and it’s loud. I’m really impressed with what I’ve seen at the plate.”
As for Plawecki, who turns just 23 this Wednesday, he’s just trying to soak it all in during his first big league camp.
“I’m trying to learn as much as I can from these older veteran guys,” he said last week at camp. “Hopefully, I can use it to get better and hopefully use it to succeed this season.”
With incumbent Travis d’Arnaud, also amongst baseball’s best catcher prospects, looking to rebound from a poor start to his MLB career, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. I don’t think anyone believes Travis won’t bounce back, while Plawecki looks to continue to rise through the system. For now, it’s a great problem to have.
Check out the entire article at Newsday and be sure to follow Marc on twitter @MarcCarig
Photo Credit: David Conde, MetsmerizedOnline.com
