Kevin Kaczmarski/Photo by Ed Delany, MMN
In a season where the New York Mets have had to resort to signing 37-year-old Jose Bautista and trying first baseman Dominic Smith in the outfield to create sufficient Major League organization depth at the position, the entire Mets organization really needs one of their outfield prospects to step up.
That’s exactly what Kevin Kaczmarski has been doing since getting called up to Triple-A Las Vegas.
Last night was the latest example for Kaczmarski. In a game started by MLB Pipeline‘s 22nd best Diamondbacks prospect, Kaczmarski helped set the pace for a Las Vegas team who would score five runs. In the game, Kaczmarski would go 4-for-5 with a double.
With another terrific night at the plate under his belt, Kaczmarski is now hitting .529/.545/.706 with a double, triple, and a homer in six games for Las Vegas. In the five games he has started in this six game stretch, Kaczmarski has at least one hit, and he has reached base four times in two separate games.
In some ways, this stretch was expected with how well he played in Binghamton and the Arizona Fall League last year.
After he struggled in April last year, Kaczmarski hit .285/.379/.381 over the final 111 games of the season. He’d follow that with a strong showing in Binghamton’s loss to the Trenton Thunder in the first round of the Eastern League Playoffs. In that series, Kaczmarski hit .286/.375/.500 with three runs, a double, a triple, and two RBI.
He continued that hot hitting in the Arizona Fall League hitting .351/.393/.442 with four doubles, a homer, 11 RBI, and two stolen bases. He led all outfielders in the Arizona Fall League in batting average, and he was second among outfielders in OBP and OPS. He led his team, the Scottsdale Scorpions, in batting average and OBP.
Overall, Kaczmarski is a versatile outfielder capable of playing all three outfield spots, and he is getting hot at the right time. Should the Mets need another outfielder at any point this season, with his production and recent track record, he has proven he belongs to be in the conversation.
