It was a draft pick viewed skeptically by many New York Met fans and openly derided by several more in the media when GM Sandy Alderson and his player development team selected Gavin Cecchini as their number one draft selection in the 2012 draft. Following a philosophy that favored baseball talent out of high school, not college, Cecchini joined Brandon Nimmo as top high school talent that was brought aboard the Mets ship.
The draft pick angst turned into a chorus when both youngsters launched their professional baseball careers somewhat passively. But, like a good wine, the Nimmo and Cecchini picks are looking better and better over time.
Cecchini continues to receive kudos for a solid start to his Eastern League season in Binghamton. He had a big night on Saturday, going 3-for 5 with a home run and double to help the B-Mets stage a come from behind, walk-off, 5-4, victory over Akron.
Mets officials have to be encouraged as Cecchini continues to mature physically. Recently, he has shown flashes of power that was absent from his offensive game in previous seasons. Saturday, the B-Mets lead-off hitter took the first two pitches he saw for balls then launched a 91 mph Shawn Morimando fastball 343 feet and over NYSEG Stadium’s left field wall for his fourth home run of the season. Cecchini’s HR total is second on the team, trailing only Josh Rodriguez who has seven. Two RBI’s on Saturday give Cecchini 19, second on the team.
But, it was a classic piece of hitting in the B-Met ninth inning that earned the highest reviews. With one out and a runner on first base and his team trailing by a run, Cecchini went with a Louis Head fastball, lacing a double inside the first base bag and down the right field line to set up Binghamton’s come from behind rally. The double was Cecchini’s ninth of the year, third for the B-Mets behind Jayce Boyd and Dustin Lawley.
Watching Nimmo and Cecchini play regularly glean insight in the thinking of Met brass in making their first draft selections. Both young prospects are solid fundamentally with above average assets in every part of the game. Both have strong baseball instincts that play out both offensively and defensively on the baseball diamond. And, both have a poise and focus that includes plate discipline that is quickly apparent when watching them play.
From the moment he enters the batters box, there is a lot to like about Cecchini. He follows a strict batting routine, laying the bat over home plate to measure his foot position then using his back leg to dig out a rivet in the box he uses to anchor his stay during his at bat. From there, Cecchini is quiet at the plate with little motion and a short, compact and increasingly more powerful swing.
Cecchini is batting .303 for Binghamton with a healthy .361 on-base-percentage. The B-Met shortstop, a contact hitter, has worked nine base-on-balls while striking out just 11 times. Like his progress as a hitter, Cecchni’s defensive outputs at shortstop are a work in progress. The B-Met infielder has had some issues in the field but has made noticeable progress since the opening weeks of the season.
Making baseball draft selections is never an accurate science. A baseball team has more influence on the development side when selecting high school talent, but that talent generally needs to be nurtured over time, a process hard to appreciate in our fast moving age. With a baseball pedigree, great work ethic and an eye on continuous improvement the jury is still out on Gavin Cecchini, but the start of his Double-A season in Binghamton is beginning to build a sound rationale explaining why the Mets chose the young infielder.