Photo by Jennifer Nieves/MMN
Back in 2016, then shortstop Gavin Cecchini was making his strong 2015 in Binghamton look more like a stepping stone and less like a career year. In 117 games, he would hit .295/.357/.459 with 27 doubles, two triples, eight homers, and 55 RBI. That would earn him a September call-up and an assignment to the Arizona Fall League.
Cecchini impressed in both stops, and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before the 2012 first round draft pick (12th overall) was going to find himself playing everyday in the majors. Two years later, and Cecchini is still in Triple-A.
There are many reasons why this was the case, but as Cecchini told Betsy Helfand of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, “I think it had a little bit to do with just repeating a league that I (had) the third highest average in the league and felt that I should have been in the big leagues and I kind of let that affect me mentally. My head was in the big leagues when I was in Triple-A and obviously that’s not good.”
It wasn’t good, and Cecchini would not have a good year last year.
After knocking on the door to the majors, he regressed in nearly every aspect of his game. In 110 games, Cecchini hit just .267/.329/.380. With his struggles, he didn’t give the Mets a reason to call him up to the majors even with the team going through a number of injuries and the team selling at the deadline.
Cecchini would look on as his double play partner Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith would get called up to the majors. After seeing something like that, Cecchini knew he needed to do something to earn his way back to the majors. That started with him making the necessary adjustments to become a much better player.
Mostly, those adjusments were at the plate. On that front, Cecchini said, “My bat was really high so it was straight up and down and it put my hands in a really awkward and bad position. I didn’t really realize it until halfway through the year and by that time it’s like ‘Man, that’s a big adjustment …Another thing was I was jumping out at the ball and I was rushing myself and I was swinging at bad pitches because of it.”
With these adjustments Cecchini looked like a much different player during Spring Training, and his new and improved approach has carried forward into the regular season. So far, in 24 games played, Cecchini is hitting .329/.380/.506 with 10 doubles, a triple, homer, and six RBI.
With the adjustments and better approach, people have begun to take notice of Cecchini again. That includes his manager, Tony DeFrancesco, who is impressed with his second baseman saying, “I think he’s real comfortable right now and hopefully he can continue to have success with his bat and continue to improve on his defense.”
If he has success like this, the Mets are bound to call him up sooner or later. While that call-up may have once weighed on his mind, Cecchini is not concerned with it now. As he says, “Whatever happens, happen …I know sooner or later, it’s all going to work out. I’m too good of a player to be in Triple-A for a career.”
