Biography:
We wrote about Parada last season and nothing has changed about his biography except he is another year older and another league more advanced. While watching another Met catching prospect (who is younger than him) ascend to the majors, he spent most of his year in Advanced A.
Resume:
2023 was a slightly down year for Parada in terms of value but his scouting and pedigree are still good enough to make him in the running for the overall position of Top Prospect in the organization. The reality was that he had a slow start to his season in April before catching on strongly in May, June and July. Then, at the worst moment, he was hurt and needed to rehabilitate in Port St. Lucie before the Mets finally promoted him to AA. His numbers in Binghamton bounced around but he ended strongly and with the injury we can hand-wave that to a degree.
What makes this a down year is that he was expected to blow Advanced A out of the water and force a promotion far sooner than July. There was an argument that he could have begun the year in AA but the Mets held him back. A .248/.324/.428 slash for the year isn’t bad, particularly for a catcher, but it isn’t something that says “superstar” either.
Hitting:
Contact:
Parada’s hitting numbers are negatively affected by the injury and early struggles in AA but the .265 average in Brooklyn seems consistent with the level of contact to expect out of him. I think contact and patience are the one area where he projects better than Alvarez.
Power:
Nobody should say no to a catcher in Brooklyn managing 14 home runs. It’s a terrible park for power and it’s very hard to hit them there. Now that he’s in Binghamton, we have to start seeing him hitting enough home runs to be North of 20 on a yearly basis. I’d also like to see more doubles. Alvarez is a 30-40 Home Run Catcher and Parada strikes me as more of a 20-30 guy.
Speed:
Neither Alvarez nor Parada will blow you away with speed but everytime someone suggests shifting Parada into the outfield I chortle. Parada is the slower of the too and would not have a defensive home outside of catcher, first base and DH.
Fielding:
Again, as hitting catchers go, Parada looks like a fine defender. He’s solid behind the plate and can hold onto his position. Still, when contrasted to Alvarez he’s ultimately the weaker of the two defensively.
Outlook:
First and foremost, do not get doom and gloom on Parada. He had a solid year and remains a valuable top prospect. Secondly, expect him to stay in AA to begin the year and for the Mets to be in no rush to promote him unless Alvarez is hurt. Lastly, it remains hard for me to picture a Mets team with both Alvarez and Parada on the roster given the Mets list of needs. It remains probable that Parada winds up trades.
Comp:
The comp I have for Kevin Parada is Wilson Ramos. Now people may get irritated by Ramos not exactly being a star player but Ramos had a frankly splendid and productive career. Parada’s offense probably rates higher overall than Ramos and could see Parada headed for a few more all star games than Ramos did (2) if he gets the playing time at catcher.
Could a platoon at catcher make sense? Does sharing the catching duties between Alvarez and Parada make sense to keep them fresh? While one catches, the other can DH. Just a thought.
I do have a feeling that Parada will be used as a trade chip. Catchers who hit 20-30 home runs don’t come around too often.
I think its much too soon to worry about that. Parada’s defense has =been rated poorly, and he has yet to show the kind of power as a professional that he did in college.
In his first 11 games/45 PA in the AFL, Parada has 3 2B and 2 HR.
I’m glad the Mets have him and will be ok either if he’s on the Mets or traded elsewhere. It was a solid debut season in the minors, one with plenty of growth still likely available. Catchers don’t have linear growth patterns, so next year may not be as good as this year. Hopefully he can stay healthy and have 475 or so PA. To me, that will determine whether or not it’s a good year.
Catchers that can hit have value. With the new rules maybe a defense first catchers value has increased. I loved Gary Sanchez when he came back and was happy when they got him this spring. I still think he might have been a good
DH.
Hard to believe he won’t go in a deal this off season. Alvarez is the man and should only get better. They need a backup to catch 30 games with good D and they will slot him at the end of the order versus Alvarez batting in the meat of the order.
Interesting thought if they were both on the roster to alternate behind the plate with the other DHing that game. No alternating for me, but I like the thought of being able to take our better hitters and give them a day off from the field but let them keep their bat in by DHing. Doesn’t work for all players but better than relying on one dimensional players like Vogey. The off-season will be here before we know it.
The Mets can afford to be patient with Parada. Catchers that can hit some in the bigs are a rare commodity. Alvarez at his age is something of a phenom despite his lack of consistency. Comparing Parada to Alvarez’s path is not wise.
That was a honest and refreshing assessment of Parada. If things work out for him he could be MLB in the summer of 2025. Realistically, 2026 would be in good timeline for him. He a good understudy for Alvarez and Alvarez and him could share DH at bats in the future. I agree that he is a valuable trade chip because offensive catchers are rare.
The Mets obtained an interesting 20 yoa catcher, Ronald Hernandez, in the David Robertson trade. He is a defensive prospect that had a. 875 OPS in Rookie League (Take that with reservations) making a trade with Parada palatable.
Parada should start again in AA and earn his way to AAA.