A Just Mets sit down with Kevin Parada
The Mets No. 1 prospect discusses last year's draft, his first big league spring training, a strong influence on him in the organization, and more
Two months ago conversations around the Mets’ minor league system consistently began with Syracuse—as at the outset of 2023 New York’s Triple-A affiliate was home to four of the club’s most exciting prospects, Francisco Álvarez, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Ronny Mauricio. Three of the four are now in New York, and while it took longer than it should have, Álvarez and Baty have both taken over the starting jobs at their respective positions. With any luck, Vientos will soon follow suit.
Now that most of the big-league ready Syracuse Mets graduated, the highest concentration of talent in New York’s system is now congregated in Brooklyn, beginning with the club’s consensus number one prospect, Kevin Parada, who I was fortunate enough to talk to over the weekend.
To his credit, Parada is not overwhelmed by the hype of being atop the Mets’ prospect rankings, saying “The Mets believe in me. All the rest is technically just outside noise and expectation, and in the end I have to still do my job in order to be the best version of myself with the plan and goal of being up in the big leagues someday.”
That day won’t come in 2023, but it is close enough that thinking ahead, it’s easy to envision a potential positional issue becoming a factor.
Unlike the NFL, MLB clubs almost never draft for need, and instead consistently focus on taking the best player with the best tools available, knowing the minor leagues can be a long and challenging road, and a big league role is not guaranteed at the end.
That said, the Mets selecting Parada 11th overall coming out of Georgia Tech last June still raised some eyebrows, though that’s not in any way an indictment of him as a player, as the 21-year-olds’ college resume speaks for itself.
In 112 games with the Yellow Jackets he slashed an eye opening .341/.420/.636 with 35 homers, 130 RBI, 30 doubles, and even 12 steals. He was easily considered one of the most polished college hitters available in the 2022 draft, and was going to be taken in the top half of the first round regardless.
“I had met with all 30 clubs and I knew I was gonna go I just didn’t know exactly when, and it happened to be the Mets”, Parada told me on Saturday.
What made New York’s decision to take him just a little puzzling was the presence of the aforementioned Álvarez, who at the time was considered the top overall prospect in baseball and tearing up the upper levels of the minor leagues. In Queens this season he’s made good on his prospect hype, crushing eight home runs in just 118 at-bats—many of which coming in clutch situations—and drawing continued praise from the team’s veteran pitchers for his abilities behind the plate.
Álvarez is also three months younger than Parada, and while some in his position would see the situation as a potential problem down the road, he’s not choosing to take it that way.
“It’s not a problem. Álvy’s done what he does, he’s really good and there’s a reason why he’s in the big leagues doing as well as he is. I hope to join him one day. There’s nothing against him. We compete in good ways, even in spring training to get each other better and in my opinion it’s never been adverse.”
He also added that while he considers himself a catcher, “In the end if they tell me to go play the outfield or go play somewhere else, I’ll do whatever it takes to help the team win.”
Speaking of spring training, with Omar Narváez away representing Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic this March, Parada was able to spend some time in big-league camp. Three months later, he still lit up when talking about the experience.
“It was an awesome experience. I got to play with big leaguers and learn a lot from them. It’s definitely a different vibe even though you’re playing in a spring training game and not one that technically counts as far as win-loss record.”
When asked about specific Major League veterans that made the experience memorable, he first mentioned catchers Narvaez and Tomás Nido. But also perhaps an unlikely name.
“Pete Alonso was there giving me pointers all the time. Teaching me about the life. He was like, ‘It’s New York, it’s a different expectation…things are going to be bigger, fans are going to be more intense, and it is what it is. It doesn’t change the game.’”
While reaching the Major Leagues is obviously the long-term goal, for now Parada is embracing his time in Brooklyn, and he’s not shy about heaping compliments on some of his teammates.
The Mets minor league system has become overwhelmingly highlighted by offensive players, and the club is in desperate need of developing their next crop of young pitching talent. Perhaps the top arm in their system is Blade Tidwell, who’s also currently in Brooklyn, and I was interested in hearing Parada’s take on catching the young righty.
“Blade’s a competitor. He wants to win and you can definitely see that every time he goes out on the mound….the people in the organization know what Blade has to offer and I know it as well. He’s a great pitcher and I’m excited to see how he grows.”
As we get later and later into the summer, and with the Mets struggling to put together a prolonged stretch of consistent success, chatter about potential changes will only intensify as we approach the trade deadline. Under Steve Cohen and Billy Eppler the Mets have been increasingly resistant to include any of their heralded prospects in trade discussions. That doesn’t mitigate all of the anxiety in minor league clubhouses in late July, and I was curious to hear Parada’s take on potential trade rumors.
“If you’re a prospect there’s trade rumors all the time especially around the deadline but it is what it is. It’s out of my control and I just have to play and do what I do. As far as right now I’m with the Mets and if in the future I’m not with the Mets that’s just not up to me.”
With Parada readying to play a double header against the Jersey Shore Blue Claws, the last question I asked him was a simple one. What does he want fans to know about Kevin Parada?
“I just want to win. That’s the goal. In the end that should be what everyone wants. Whatever I have to do to help myself be able to help the team win that’s all that matters.”
I’d personally like to thank Kevin Parada for taking the time to meet with me, and all of us at Just Mets wish him nothing but the best in the future.