FLUSHING, N.Y., –Â The New York Mets today announced that the club has signed first-round selection (11th overall pick) catcher Kevin Parada.
This past season at Georgia Tech, Parada batted .360 (91-250) with 88 RBI, and a .715 slugging percentage and set a program single-season record with 26 home runs, which was tied for the sixth most in Division I in 2022. Parada led the ACC in runs (78) and RBI (88) during the 2022 season and drew 30 walks while striking out just 32 times over 253 at-bats in 2022.
The Pasadena, California native was the winner of the Buster Posey Award in June, awarded to the top collegiate catcher. Parada, 20, also was selected to the 2022 All-ACC First Team, a unanimous All-American selection as well as a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award and Dick Houser Trophy. He finished his collegiate career with a .330/.420/.638 slashline, 35 home runs, 130 RBI, 120 runs and 12 stolen bases in 112 games.
The number six overall prospect by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, Parada is the seventh ever catcher taken by the Mets in the first round of the draft and the fourth catcher from Georgia Tech selected in the first round joining Jason Varitek (1993, 1994), Matt Wieters (2007) and Joey Bart (2018).
