The New York Mets had the 12th pick in the 2012 MLB First Year Player Draft on Monday evening and selected Gavin Cecchini out of Barbe High School in Louisiana. This is the second straight year the Mets have dipped to the high school ranks for their first round pick after selecting Brandon Nimmo last season.
Cecchini is a shortstop and is compared to J.J. Hardy currently of the Baltimore Orioles, with a little more speed and a little less power. He’s 6’2, 180 and will likely grow a little bit more over the course of the next few seasons and will likely start the year in the instructional league and may see time at Brooklyn later on in the season.
According to ESPN, “Cecchini has a well-rounded game and all the tools to stick at the position. In the infield he has good range and a solid arm. He tends to drop his arm on some of his throws which causes the ball to sail, but that will be an easy fix at the next level. At the plate Cecchini has a level line-drive swing with gap power. He looks to have a solid hit tool with average power. He has a long stride which creates a lot of his momentum moving forward, but he stays back and always squares up the ball.”
This is the Mets’ second shortstop selection in the last five seasons after Reese Havens was taken back in 2008. Havens is at Double-A Binghamton right now and struggling greatly, but shortstop is not a position where the Mets lack as they have Wilmer Flores, Robbie Shields and Danny Muno in the system as well, it will be interesting to see who amongst the group pans out.
The right-handed batter and thrower was recruited by some very strong college baseball programs including Arizona State, North Carolina, Rice and Texas A&M. He was also recruited by Louisiana-Lafayette, Arkansas and Texas Christian University before signing to Ole Miss.
There’s always a greater risk taking a high school student in comparison to a college player, and Cecchini is no exception as he is currently committed to the SEC program. I highly doubt he will go on to college but if you recall the Mets did select Steven Matz out of Ward Melville High School on Long Island who has been battling injury since being drafted, a risk you take with the underdeveloped bodies of high school athletes.
See who the Mets drafted with their “Sandwich Round” pick as compensation for Jose Reyes after the jump.
With their second pick of the evening the Mets selected Kevin Plawecki a catcher from Purdue University of the Big Ten Conference in Indiana. Plawecki is a midwest kid from Indiana who played for his home state school with the Boilermakers who fills a weak spot in the Mets farm system behind the plate.
Plawecki hit .359 for a Purdue team that went 45-13 this season. He finished second on the team with seven home runs and 47 RBI while starting in playing in all 59 games primarily behind the plate. He even has some speed as he hit four triples and stole three bases in six attempts, he walked 26 times and was hit by 12 pitches this season, both of which led the team.
In their 24-game Big Ten Conference schedule he hit an astounding .396 with only one home run and 15 RBI while scoring 17 runs hitting mostly in the cleanup slot in the batting order. For his career he hit .348 in 168 career games as a three year starter for the Boilermakers with 17 home runs and 139 RBI. His biggest upside is his defense as he finished his three-year career with a .990 fielding percentage committing only 12 errors in 1,133 total chances.
That’s all for day one of the MLB Draft, we’ll be back tomorrow for the second straight year to recap every pick as the Mets continue to make their way through the long draft process. Stay tuned and have a great night!
