Teddy Cahill of MiLB.com had an article this afternoon on catching prospect and 2012 first rounder Kevin Plawecki. As those of you who read here know, Plawecki has been raking in Single-A Savannah and may be close to a promotion to FSL and quite possible even to Double-A Binghamton given how advanced and polished he is.
The former Purdue Boilermaker is hitting .356 with five home runs and a .597 slugging percentage in 41 games. He leads the South Atlantic League in batting average and on-base percentage.
Paul DePodesta has taken note and said the following recently:
“Going into this year, we were optimistic about what we might get from him,” DePodesta said. “Wouldn’t have predicted he’d do what he’s done. But there was reason for optimism.”
DePodesta said Plawecki has also earned praise for his defense this season.
“He’s a natural leader behind the plate,” DePodesta said. “He’s getting high marks for calling very good games, which you don’t hear a lot of in A ball — even from college guys.”
DePo told Cahill that Plawecki has proven he’s ready for the next challenge.
“We think he’s ready to move both offensively and defensively,” DePodesta said. “When the opportunity presents itself, we will move.”
At MMO and MMN we’ve been saying that Plawecki would be the first player from Savannah to get promoted and he would be followed closely by first baseman Jayce Boyd. Given Brandon Nimmo‘s injury, it looks like he will probably stay in Savannah for most if not all of the season. But Nimmo is much younger and less advanced and could probably use more time in a league that focuses mostly on development. He’s getting close to returning after suffering a slight setback.
