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Kevin Parada

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Kevin Parada
Parada with the Mets in 2023
New York Mets
Catcher
Born: (2001-08-03) August 3, 2001 (age 23)
Pasadena, California, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

Kevin John Parada (born August 3, 2001) is an American baseball catcher in the New York Mets organization.

Amateur career

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Parada attended Loyola High School in Los Angeles, California. He finished his high school career with a .390 batting average, nine home runs, 66 RBIs, and 24 doubles.[1] He was considered a top prospect for the 2020 Major League Baseball draft, but went unselected, and enrolled at Georgia Tech to play college baseball.[2]

Parada was instantly put into the starting lineup at catcher as a freshman in 2021.[3] Over 52 games, he slashed .318/.370/.550 with nine home runs and 42 RBIs alongside twenty doubles which led the Atlantic Coast Conference, earning Freshman All-American honors.[4] Parada played nine games in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Chatham Anglers over the summer of 2021.[5][6] He was also named to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team with whom he spent part of the summer.[7][8] Parada entered the 2022 season as a top prospect for the upcoming draft.[9][10][11] On March 1, 2022, he was named the National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper after a week in which he went 12-21 with five home runs and 17 RBIs.[12][13] On March 29, in a 17-3 win versus the Charleston Southern Buccaneers, Parada had his first ever two-home run game.[14] After he hit his 26th home run of the season, he set the Georgia Tech single season home run record, breaking the previous record set by Anthony Maisano in 1990.[15] Parada ended the season having played in sixty games, compiling a .361/.453/.709 slash line with 26 home runs and 88 RBIs.[16] Following the season's end, he traveled to San Diego where he participated in the Draft Combine.[17]

Professional career

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The New York Mets selected Parada in the first round with the 11th overall selection of the 2022 Major League Baseball draft.[18] He signed with the team for $5 million.[19]

Parada made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Florida Complex League Mets and was promoted to the St. Lucie Mets of the Single-A Florida State League after three games.[20] Over 13 games between the two teams, he hit .275 with one home run and eight RBIs.[21] Parada was assigned to the Brooklyn Cyclones of the High-A South Atlantic League to open the 2023 season.[22] He briefly played for St. Lucie, and was promoted to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies of the Double-A Eastern League in late August.[23] Over 105 games, he slashed .248/.324/.428 with 14 home runs and 54 RBIs.[24] He was selected to play in the Arizona Fall League with the Glendale Desert Dogs.[25] Parada was assigned to Binghamton to open the 2024 season.[26]

Personal life

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Parada's mother, Darlene, played college softball at Woodbury University.[27]

References

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  1. ^ Reed-Baiotto, Brian (June 9, 2020). "Pasadena's Parada Hopes to be Selected in MLB Draft". Hughes News Online.
  2. ^ "Best players not taken in abbreviated 2020 MLB draft". ESPN. June 12, 2020.
  3. ^ Sondheimer, Eric (March 29, 2021). "Keeping tabs: College baseball teams relying on Southern California connection". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ "Parada named Freshman All-American". Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Athletics. June 9, 2021.
  5. ^ "Kevin Parada". pointstreak.com. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  6. ^ Cole, Adam (July 22, 2021). "3 non-COVID factors contribute to 'crazy' shake-ups in 2021 Cape Cod baseball rosters". Cape Cod Times.
  7. ^ Hayes, Tim (7 July 2021). "TEAM USA Collegiate National Team rosters". Bristol Herald Courier.
  8. ^ "Parada Selected to 2021 Collegiate National Team". Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Athletics. June 18, 2021.
  9. ^ Sugiura, Ken (February 17, 2022). "High expectations again for Georgia Tech baseball as new season begins". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  10. ^ Cahill, Teddy (March 30, 2022). "Kevin Parada Is the Latest Star in Georgia Tech's Catching Pipeline". Baseball America.
  11. ^ Sugiura, Ken (April 22, 2022). "Kevin Parada chasing greatness for Georgia Tech". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  12. ^ Sugiura, Ken (March 1, 2022). "Kevin Parada named national player of week for Georgia Tech". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  13. ^ Torres, Maria (March 4, 2022). "Georgia Tech's Kevin Parada spent the offseason adding strength, and now he's powering up MLB Draft boards". The Athletic.
  14. ^ Sugiura, Ken (March 30, 2022). "Georgia Tech ends four-game slide as Kevin Parada has career game". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  15. ^ Sugiura, Ken (May 23, 2022). "Kevin Parada sets school home-run record as Georgia Tech sweeps Pitt". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  16. ^ Sugiura, Ken. "Georgia Tech's Kevin Parada named finalist for Golden Spikes Award". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  17. ^ "Everything you need to know: Draft Combine". MLB.com.
  18. ^ Sugiura, Ken. "Georgia Tech's Kevin Parada taken 11th overall by Mets". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  19. ^ "Mets make major deal to sign first round draft pick Kevin Parada".
  20. ^ "Mets Minors Recap: Kevin Parada Doubles in Debut | Metsmerized Online". 20 August 2022.
  21. ^ "Kevin Parada Stats, Fantasy & News".
  22. ^ "Where the Mets' Top 30 prospects are starting season". MLB.com.
  23. ^ "Mets Promote Catcher Kevin Parada to Double-A Binghamton". MiLB.com. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  24. ^ Postins, Matthew (2023-09-23). "Mets Sending Top Prospect to AFL". Sports Illustrated New York Mets News, Analysis and More. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  25. ^ "Here are the 2023 Arizona Fall League rosters". MLB.com. Retrieved 2024-03-19.
  26. ^ "Where the Guardians' Top 30 prospects are starting the season". MLB.com. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  27. ^ Dahn, Jeff (July 26, 2019). "Parada joins Classic parade". Perfect Game USA.
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