At first glance, Darrell Ceciliani gives the impression of old school. Ceciliani is one of the rare Double-A professional baseball hitters who doesn’t wear a batting glove. An intense focus, a contact-first batting approach, and a gritty all-around playing style compliment your first impression. It’s not difficult to like the way Ceciliani plays the game of baseball.
If you are familiar with his stats but haven’t seen him play, you might think Ceciliani is one of those small, lithe speedsters, befitting a guy with twenty or more stolen bases in every professional season where he hasn’t spent a considerable chunk of time on the disabled list.
Wrong. Ceciliani is built like a football halfback; 6’1” and a sturdy 220 pounds. His 23 stolen bases for the Binghamton Mets rank second. He trails Cesar Puello by one bag for the club lead.
Ceciliani has been on a recent tear with the bat for the B-Mets, as well. The outfielder finished the month of June hitting .257,but then added over 30 points to his average which currently stands at .290. Along the way, Ceciliani ran off a 16-game hitting streak where he hit .460 with a .507 on-base-percentage.
A spray hitter, Ceciliani has gap power and can hit the ball anywhere from foul pole to foul pole. He owns a unique swing, where his hands stay tight and near the body as the bat moves through the hitting plane, which adds to Ceciliani’s plate mystique.
Ceciliani led the NY-Penn League in hitting for Brooklyn, batting .351 in 2010. The fourth round draft pick of the 2009 draft for the Mets was plagued with hamstring issues, causing him to miss over 80 percent of his season last summer in St.Lucie. Ceciliani got off to a slow start at the Double-A level in Binghamton this season, but as spring turned to summer, he’s cashed in big time for the B-Mets.
The left-hander is a solid outfielder that uses above average speed to cover ample real estate in center field. Ceciliani gets a great jump as a ball leaves the bat and runs good routes, but has only an average throwing arm.
A graduate of Madras High School in Oregon, the same school where Jacoby Ellsbury played, Ceciliani has always played center field, but is trying his hand in left at times this season as a B-Met.
Former Brooklyn manager Wally Backman is a Ceciliani fan. While he was a Cyclone, Backman had this to say about his outfielder:
He’s got all the tools he needs to play in the big leagues. His bat speed is tremendous and he doesn’t swing and miss. His instincts in the outfield are excellent.
A first place run, strong pitching, and the power hitting of Cesar Puello and Allan Dykstra have dominated the conversation this season in Binghamton. However, Darrell Ceciliani continues to quietly put together an exceptional campaign for the best team in the Eastern League.
Great to see him stay on the field this season.
Agreed! I nice write-up here by John.
Thanks for bringing this guy up for us.
Considering his injuries, not much of an age issue. I imagine he’ll stay in AA for the year. If his numbers tick up further – particularly if he can get his OBP around 380 or so, I imagine he becomes a prospect who you start thinking might bat 2nd or 7th.
Anyway, nice write-up
Darrell is fun to watch, always focused and engaged in the game. His walk/strikeout ratio this season has taken a hit as opposed to play at previous levels. That’s probably one area of his game he is working on. He brings a daring, swashbuckling attitude to the base paths that is exciting to watch and has real good game playing instincts.
Will he be added to the 40 man roster or will the Mets risk exposing him to the Rule 5 draft with so many other outfielders knocking on the door (Puello, MDD, Vaughn, Lawley, TT…etc)?
From what I saw on Twitter this morning, Rubin agreed with someone that said he’s a bubble guy for the 40-man as of right now. So, we’ll have to stay tuned to see what happens. Makes how he performs the rest of this season all the more important.
Glad to see him getting his just due. He was a guy I was very intrigued by a few yrs back, but after his injuries came into play he seemed to fall off the radar. It appears that hes hitting for a bit more power this yr versus past seasons, which would definitely boost his value. I hope he continues to play well down the stretch and gets a look at AAA right out of the gate next yr.