Kevin Plawecki

Kevin Jeffrey Plawecki (born February 26, 1991) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior to playing professionally, Plawecki attended Purdue University, where he played college baseball for the Boilermakers. He has previously played in MLB for the New York Mets and Cleveland Indians.

Kevin Plawecki
Plawecki with the Indians in 2019
Boston Red Sox – No. 25
Catcher
Born: (1991-02-26) February 26, 1991
Hinsdale, Illinois
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 21, 2015, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics
(through 2019 season)
Batting average.218
Home runs17
Runs batted in92
Teams

Plawecki starred in baseball for Westfield High School. In college, he was named an All-American in 2012, and won the Big Ten Conference Baseball Player of the Year in 2012. The Mets selected him with the thirty-fifth overall selection in the 2012 MLB draft.

Amateur career

Plawecki was born in Hinsdale, Illinois, on February 26, 1991 to Jeff and Lynne Plawecki. He attended Westfield High School in Westfield, Indiana, where he played for the school's baseball team.[1] He was named an All-State Class 4A honorable mention at catcher in his senior year.[2] He was not selected in the Major League Baseball (MLB) draft following his senior year of high school.[3] He enrolled at Purdue University, to play college baseball for the Purdue Boilermakers baseball team.[4]

As a freshman at Purdue University in 2010, Plawecki had a .343 batting average, a .384 on-base percentage (OBP), and a .529 SLG, with eight home runs. He was named a freshman All-American by Louisville Slugger[5] and the Big Ten Conference (Big Ten) All-Freshman of the Team.[6]bFollowing his freshman season at Purdue, Plawecki played collegiate summer baseball for the Richmond RiverRats of the Prospect League, where he batted 65-for-211 (.308) with fifteen doubles and 27 RBIs.[7]

As a sophomore in 2011, Plawecki batted .341 with a .436 SLG, 2 home runs, and 39 RBIs. He was named first team All-Big Ten.[8] That summer, Plawecki played for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[9]

In the 2012 season as a junior, Plawecki hit .359 batting average, a .445 on-base percentage (OBP), and a .578 SLG, with seven home runs. Plawecki was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2012 Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament and 2012 Big Ten Conference Baseball Player of the Year.[3][10] He was a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award in 2011 and one of its three finalists in 2012.[11][12]

Professional career
Plawecki with the Mets in Spring of 2015

New York Mets

The New York Mets selected Plawecki in the first round, with the 35th overall selection, in the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.[11] In 2013, he played for the Savannah Sand Gnats of the Class A South Atlantic League.[13][14] He was promoted to the St. Lucie Mets of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League, and to the Binghamton Mets of the Class AA Eastern League for the Eastern League playoffs.[15]

In 2014, the Mets invited Plawecki to spring training.[16][17][18][19] He started the 2014 season with the Binghamton Mets, where he hit .326 with six home runs and 43 RBIs in 224 at-bats.[20][21] Plawecki was selected to play for the U.S. Team in the 2014 All-Star Futures Game, along with Noah Syndergaard.[22] After batting .326 for Binghamton, the Mets promoted Plawecki to the Las Vegas 51s of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League on June 24.[21]

The Mets invited Plawecki to spring training in 2015, and reassigned him to minor league camp so that he could start the 2015 season with Las Vegas.[23] After Travis d'Arnaud went on the disabled list with a broken hand on April 19, 2015, the Mets announced they would promote Plawecki to the major leagues.[24]

Plawecki made his Major League debut on April 21, 2015 against the Atlanta Braves. He got his first career hit off Trevor Cahill and finished the game 2-for-4, with two runs scored.[25] During a game against the New York Yankees on April 25, 2015, Plawecki hit his first career home run off CC Sabathia en route to an 8-2 victory.[26] Plawecki became the first player to hit his first career home run in a Mets-Yankees Subway Series game.[27]

Plawecki began experiencing dizziness in June, which sidelined him from playing for several games.[28] He was demoted to the Las Vegas 51s on August 11,[29] and recalled on September 1 due to expanded rosters in September.[30] Plawecki finished the season with a .219 batting average with three home runs and 21 RBIs in 73 games played.[31]

Plawecki had surgery on his paranasal sinuses during the 2015-16 offseason to address his dizziness.[31] He batted .197 in 48 games for the Mets in 2016, spending the rest of the season with Las Vegas.[32]

In an April 30, 2017 game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Plawecki was brought in to pitch for the first time since he was 14 years old. He was the first Mets position player to pitch since Anthony Recker in 2013, also against the Nationals at Nationals Park. He threw only fastballs, giving up four runs over two innings. One of those was Anthony Rendon's third home run of the game. The Mets lost 23-5.[33]

Plawecki suffered a broken hand on April 11, 2018.[34]

Cleveland Indians

On January 6, 2019, the Mets traded Plawecki to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Walker Lockett and Sam Haggerty.[35] On December 2, 2019, Plawecki was non-tendered and became a free agent.[36]

Boston Red Sox

On January 3, 2020, the Red Sox signed Plawecki to one-year, $900,000 contract.[37]

Personal life

Plawecki grew up in Westfield, Indiana, with his parents and younger brother. His father coached his youth baseball teams.[38]

Plawecki and his wife, Tayler, were married in November 2015.[31]

References
  1. Nelsen, Chris (May 3, 2008). "Catcher is steady as a rock". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved May 20, 2013. (subscription required)
  2. "High schools". The Journal Gazette. July 2, 2009. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  3. "Meet Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki: Fiery, talented and in New York ahead of schedule". NJ.com. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  4. Ambrogi, Mark (November 15, 2008). "Plawecki will head to Purdue". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved May 20, 2013. (subscription required)
  5. ""LOUISVILLE SLUGGER'S" FRESHMEN ALL-AMERICAN BASEBALL TEAM". www.baseballnews.com. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Inc. June 9, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  6. "Indiana, Michigan State, Minnesota, and Ohio State Earn 2010 Big Ten Baseball Individual Honors". www.bigten.org. Big Ten Conference. May 25, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  7. "#26 Kevin Plawecki - Profile". www.pointstreak.com. Pointstreak Sports Technologies Inc. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  8. "Six Purdue baseball players named All-Big Ten". www.purdueexponent.org. Purdue Exponent. May 24, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  9. "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  10. "Big Ten Conference Baseball Record Book" (PDF). BigTen.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 22, 2013. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  11. "Mets pick patient catcher Kevin Plawecki at 35th overall in Draft | mets.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. June 4, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  12. "Plawecki selected for Johnny Bench Award watch list - Purdue Exponent: Baseball". Purdue Exponent. March 8, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  13. Dominitz, Nathan (May 10, 2013). "Plawecki's education continues with Gnats". savannahnow.com. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  14. Lee, David (May 18, 2013). "Catcher Kevin Plawecki lifts Sand Gnats over GreenJackets | The Augusta Chronicle". Chronicle.augusta.com. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
  15. "Plawecki, Reynolds promoted to B-Mets". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  16. "Nimmo, Plawecki are bats of Mets' future". New York Post. February 13, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  17. "Backstop Plawecki impressing with Mets - MiLB.com News - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  18. "Kevin Plawecki gives Mets' organization depth at catcher". Newsday. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  19. "A Luxury For the Mets: Two Promising Catchers in d'Arnaud and Plawecki". New York Times. February 26, 2014. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  20. "Heavy-Hitters: Dustin Lawley, Kevin Plawecki will be counted on to lead the Binghamton Mets offense". Shreveport Times. April 2, 2014. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  21. "Plawecki promoted to Las Vegas". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  22. "Big league power highlights Futures Game rosters". Major League Baseball. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  23. Rubin, Adam (March 20, 2015). "Kevin Plawecki, two others sent to New York Mets minor league camp - ESPN New York". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
  24. "Mets to bring up Kevin Plawecki and Hansel Robles to replace injured Travis d'Arnaud, Jerry Blevins". NJ.com. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  25. "Mets' Kevin Plawecki impresses in major league debut vs. Atlanta Braves". NJ.com. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  26. Baer, Bill. "Plawecki hits first MLB home run as Mets win 8-2 over Yankees". NBC Sports Hardball Talk. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  27. "Plawecki Makes Subway Series History with First MLB Homer". PurdueSports.com. CBS Interactive. April 25, 2015. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  28. "Plawecki is undergoing further tests due to dizziness". MetsBlog. June 11, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  29. "Recker promoted; Plawecki to AAA, where he may play 1B". MetsBlog. August 12, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  30. "Mets call up Campbell, Nieuwenhuis, Young Jr. and Plawecki; Activate Matz, Parnell and Goeddel". MetsBlog. September 1, 2015. Retrieved December 29, 2015.
  31. McCarron, Anthony (February 9, 2016). "Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki opens up about sinus surgery, friendship with Travis d'Arnaud". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  32. "Mets hopeful d'Arnaud, Plawecki will improve".
  33. Rieber, Anthony (April 30, 2017). "Catcher Plawecki does emergency mound duty". Newsday. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  34. https://nypost.com/2018/04/13/kevin-plaweckis-hand-is-broken-and-the-mets-are-in-trouble/
  35. Associated Press (January 6, 2019). "Indians acquire C Kevin Plawecki in trade with Mets". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  36. Paul Hoynes (December 2, 2019). "Cleveland Indians solve catching logjam by signing Sandy Leon and non-tendering Kevin Plawecki". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  37. "Red Sox sign catcher Kevin Plawecki to 1-year deal, cut Sam Travis". www.boston.com. Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC. January 2, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  38. "'Better than d'Arnaud': The boundless optimism around Plawecki - New York Post". New York Post. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
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