He’s going to be a big piece of this team,” said New York Met Manager Terry Collins commenting on Kevin Plawecki’s April 21 debut in a 7-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Plawecki, a former 2012 Brooklyn Cyclone, was quickly called up from Triple-A Las Vegas after catcher Travis d’Arnaud broke his right pinky finger on an inside pitch that placed the Mets’ front line receiver on the disabled list.
For Plawecki, who batted a total of .309 at both Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas last season, the call to Flushing was a no-brainer for management after the Mets’ number five prospect in their system had just finished a successful spring with the parent club in St. Lucie.
When Plawecki arrived in Brooklyn as the Mets’ number one supplemental pick in the 2012 draft, the then-21-year-old catcher from Purdue was the number three-ranked collegiate catcher in the country who quickly rose through the Mets’ farm system, collecting honors along the way.
In 2013 and 2014 Plawecki was chosen as a Sterling Award winner, a MVP honor which the Mets award to multiple levels of players during their minor league stages of development. Additionally in 2014, Plawecki was given the honor of starting behind the plate for the Futures Game, the All Star showcase for all of major league baseball’s minor league players.
Debuting for the first place Mets in game number nine of the team’s 11-game winning streak, Plawecki adeptly handled the Mets’ pitching staff, threw out a runner at second, went two for four and scored two runs in the Mets 7-1 win over the Braves.
As far as Met management was concerned, there was never any doubt that Plawecki was big league ready, but the 24-year-old Indiana native had to admit that “it was good to get past the nerves” after his first major league hit during his second at-bat in the fourth inning of the Atlanta game.