Kevin Parada

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

Kevin Parada
Parada with the Mets in 2023
New York Mets – No. 95
Catcher
Born: (2001-08-03) August 3, 2001
Pasadena, California, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

Amateur career

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

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]

Personal life

Parada's mother, Darlene, played college softball at Woodbury University.[26]

References
  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. "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. https://www.milb.com/binghamton/news/mets-promote-catcher-kevin-parada-to-double-a-binghamton
  24. https://www.si.com/mlb/mets/news/new-york-mets-sending-kevin-parada-arizona-fall-league-rosters-matt9
  25. https://www.mlb.com/news/rosters-announced-for-2023-arizona-fall-league
  26. Dahn, Jeff (July 26, 2019). "Parada joins Classic parade". Perfect Game USA.
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