Kevin Parada Hits First Career AFL Home Run

Kevin Parada, Photos by Bronson Harris of Binghamton Rumble Ponies

One of the New York Mets’ top prospects, Kevin Parada, hit his first career Arizona Fall League (AFL) home run on Saturday. The long ball smacked off the center field batter’s eye which is 410-plus feet away from home plate.

The 22-year-old catcher, who had an up-and-down season this past year, is now slashing .231/.259/.385, good for an OPS of .644, across only 26 at-bats early on in the AFL season.

Parada played across three different levels of the Mets’ minor league system this year. His main stop was with High-A Brooklyn where he hit 11 home runs and posted 42 RBIs. He batted .265 with a .787 OPS. Parada then finished the season out with Double-A Binghamton, appearing in the playoffs with them, slugging a home run.

Kevin Parada’s first #AFL23 HR of the season goes high off the batter’s eye in CF! pic.twitter.com/8VvKaQR9kc

— MLB's Arizona Fall League (@MLBazFallLeague) October 15, 2023

Parada’s AFL team, the Glendale Desert Dogs, lost the game yesterday, in which Parada went 2-for-4 with his home run. The Desert Dogs are now 2-10 on the season. Outside of Parada, a decent-sized list of Mets’ prospect began the season with Glendale: