Kevin Parada heats up at Triple-A after rough Double-A stint

Kevin Parada’s .884 OPS in 77 plate appearances at Triple-A Syracuse has turned his 2026 season into a clearer developmental question: is this the level where his bat finally settles in? After a rough .522 OPS in limited Double-A time, the Mets’ top catching prospect has answered with more impact contact, including a home run on June 10 and an RBI hit on June 21.

The 24-year-old right-handed catcher, listed at 5-foot-11 and 197 pounds and born in Pasadena, California, opened the year in Binghamton on March 27 before the transaction log showed his move to Syracuse on May 15. MiLB has listed him as active with the Syracuse Mets, and the jump in production has been enough to make the promotion look like more than a routine roster shuffle.

Parada has always been evaluated first through the bat. New York took him No. 11 overall in the 2022 MLB Draft out of Georgia Tech, where MLB Pipeline called him a bat-first catcher and said his defense remained a work in progress behind the plate. That profile was backed by his college numbers: a .929 OPS as a freshman, then a school-record 26 home runs as a draft-eligible sophomore while hitting .361/.453/.709 over 60 games. He also flashed quickly in pro ball, posting a .455 OBP in 13 games mostly at Single-A St. Lucie after signing.

That history makes the Triple-A surge more meaningful than a hot week or two. Parada’s current MiLB line sits at .234/.330/.640 over 171 at-bats in 2026, a shape that points to the kind of power-driven rebound the Mets have long hoped to see from him. The home run on June 10 and the RBI hit on June 21 suggest the ball is coming off the bat with enough authority to matter at the next level, not just survive there.

The timing also matters for the Mets’ catching depth. Francisco Alvarez was in Syracuse on a rehab assignment June 2, which put another big-league name in the same lineup environment where Parada has been trying to separate himself. If Parada keeps producing at Triple-A, he can again push the idea that he belongs on a major-league path as a bat-first everyday catcher, with the defensive growth that has followed him since Georgia Tech still the final piece between prospect status and a real opening in Queens.