The Mets have always felt Kevin Plawecki was among the elite catching prospects in the game.
He was always viewed as an offensive-oriented catcher with the hope he could continue to improve defensively but outhit any of his shortcomings behind the plate.
But it hasn’t been easy for Plawecki in his first season with the Mets, a season which probably shouldn’t have been thanks to two extended absences from Travis d’Arnaud. He saw his average dip to .198 as late as June 2, often appearing overmatched during the first two months of the season. While he showed flashes of what the Mets were hoping from him, he appeared a bit raw for this level.
It stood to reason. Again, Plawecki was brought to the big leagues prematurely at the end of April to fill in semi long-term for d’Arnaud, who broke his hand after being hit by a pitch on April 19. But Plawecki only had 208 plate appearances above Double-A in his pro career before being promoted, so he might have benefitted from some more seasoning.
Unfortunately, there was no time for that. The Mets had an immediate need, and it was as good a time as any to bring Plawecki here to start everyday.
But after struggling to find his way over the first two months, Things have started to come around for the young catcher. Plawecki has hit .298/.340/.362 over his last 16 games which has improved his overall line to .230/.273/.311 for the season.
Considering where that line was a month ago, that’s a vast improvement, and very encouraging to see.
Like all young hitters, Plawecki often appears overanxious at the plate. He doesn’t go out of the zone very much, but he doesn’t swing at a lot of hittable strikes, either – he’s only swinging at 62 percent of pitches inside the strike zone. That suggests he’s having trouble with pitch selection and recognition which helps explains his propensity to strikeout at a modestly high rate.
That will come with experience – he’s talented, so patience just needs to be exercised with him.
Again, he wouldn’t even be here if not for d’Arnaud’s health issues in 2015. And it looks like Plawecki is going to get plenty more opportunities to hone his skills at the big league level.
And while it’s a small sample, it looks like he has taken major steps forward in his growth, which is exciting to see.
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2 responses to “Kevin Plawecki is showing signs of growth at the big league level”
He does look a bit better when batting, and his defense (0.6 dWAR) has been pretty good, overall.
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Plawecki has consistently been a contact hitter with gap power throughout his stops in the minors. Although his strikeout rate after being promoted to the majors was higher than some may have expected, he has settled down. Over the past month he has struck out 5 times in 48 plate appearances– about half the major league average. Kevin may have been thrown right into the fire prematurely but this may help him in the long run. On recent SNY telecast, Ron Darling was discussing the prep work the Mets coaching staff asks of their backstops– from reviewing scouting reports, to watching opposing team video and preparing reports. This sounds like a great deal of extra work that a young player could find overwhelming. In Plawecki’s case, I believe spending the rest of the season on the major league level– even after Travis D’Arnaud returns– will help him better understand the approach and preparation needed to be a well-rounded successful catcher. Let him conquer that and hopefully his natural ability will shine through.
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