A career .251 hitter in the minor leagues prior to this season, Mets shortstop prospect Gavin Cecchini has never been known for his offensive prowess.
This year, however, everything changed.
It’s been a breakout year for the former first round pick at the plate this year as Cecchini is batting .292/.344/.420 with 17 doubles, one triple, six home runs, 34 RBI, 40 runs scored and only 34 strikeouts in 73 games at Double-A Binghamton.
“Really just sticking with my approach regardless of the results,” Cecchini recently told JustMets.net. “Just keep shrinking the strike zone and really keying in on a pitch I want to hit and if I don’t get that pitch, if they’re nibbling, I just hand the torch off to the next guy.”
There’s no question the adjustments Cecchini has made at the plate have been effective, as he’s currently riding a 10-game hitting streak where he’s hitting .356 with a home run, five RBI and three walks in that span.
Not only has the 21-year-old shortstop excelled at the plate so far this season, but he’s been more dangerous than ever.
Prior to this year, Cecchini had just nine home runs in his three-year minor league career, but just past the half-way point he already has six. He’s on pace for 46 extra-base hits this season, more than he’s ever had in a single minor league campaign.
“It goes back to just getting a good pitch to hit and putting my best swing on it,” Cecchini said of his new-found extra-base hit prowess. “I can always just put balls in play if I wanted to but that’s not the goal. The type of hitter I am, I’m always looking for a pitch I can really drive. If I get to two strikes then we battle but when I’m ahead in the count, less than two strikes, I’m always trying to drive the ball.”
While it’s been a break-out year offensively, it hasn’t all been good for Cecchini in 2015. On the defensive side of the ball, Gavin’s committed 19 errors and has just a .940 fielding percentage in 73 games.
“I think it goes back to the routine things,” Cecchini said about his defense. “Just making the routine play, reading the balls off the bat and it all starts in practice. There’s 142 games we play in the minor leagues, it can be easy to go out in BP and just go through the motions but that’s actually when your day starts. After you take BP, you go out there and take balls live off the bat, really reading bad angles and getting good jumps on the ball.
“Sometimes I try to be too quick and I don’t look the ball,” Cecchini continued. “You know, really simple stuff, but as the game speeds up you tend to lose focus sometimes on the small more simple things. Really just being consistent with that, keeping things simple and there’s no doubt I’ll be fine.”
It’s no secret that the Mets have had a void at shortstop in the years following Jose Reyes’ exit from the club and perhaps Cecchini, who is further along in his development than fellow shortstop prospect Amed Rosario, could be nearing his way to the major leagues within the next couple seasons. I wouldn’t expect a call up anytime soon, as Cecchini himself admits that he has a lot to improve on first.
“It’s really everything,” Cecchini explained. “Like I always tell people, whenever someone tells you that they don’t need to get better at a certain aspect of the game they’re lying to you because we’re always getting better–big leaguers, I don’t care who you are–they’re always learning things, they’re always trying to get better and be the best player that they can be and if you stop learning and you think that you know it all, that’s when the game will really nip you right in the bud and show you otherwise.”
For awhile anyway, I wasn’t sure what kind of player Cecchini would turn out to be–I’m still not, really. If he stays the course, however, and continues to develop as he has over the last year, I have all the confidence in the world that the Mets may be moving closer to a potential answer at the shortstop position.
“Regardless of it’s defensively, offensively, base running, the mental side–whatever the case may be–I’m always trying to be the best player I can be,” Cecchini concluded.
Just Mets 