The Red Sox have promoted power-hitting prospect Niko Kavadas from Double-A Portland to Triple-A Worcester, per the club’s minor-league transactions log.
Kavadas, 24, had spent the entirety of the 2023 season with Portland up until this point. In 69 games for the Sea Dogs, the left-handed hitting first baseman batted .204/.386/.430 with eight doubles, a team-leading 14 home runs, 42 RBIs, 35 runs scored, two stolen bases, 63 walks, and 110 strikeouts over 293 plate appearances.
Among 64 qualified hitters in the Eastern League coming into play on Friday, Kavadas ranked first in walk rate (21.5%), last in strikeout rate (37.5%), ninth in on-base percentage, 29th in slugging percentage, 18th in OPS (.816), 11th in isolated power (.226), 26th in swinging-strike rate (11.2%), and 14th in wRC+ (128), per FanGraphs.
On the other side of the ball, Kavadas has unsurprisingly seen all of his playing time on the field this year come at first base. Outside of serving as Portland’s designated hitter on four separate occasions, the 5-foot-11, 235-pounder has logged 567 1/3 innings at first and has yet to commit an error in 477 defensive chances.
Kavadas was originally selected by the Red Sox in the 11th round of the 2021 amateur draft out of Notre Dame. The Indiana native signed with the club for $250,000 and is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 29 prospect in Boston’s farm system.
After taking home Red Sox Minor League Offensive Player of the Year honors last year, Kavadas has come back to earth a bit in 2023. As his numbers with the Sea Dogs this season indicate, he has become somewhat of a three-true-outcomes player in that nearly 64% of his plate appearances have resulted in either a strikeout, walk, or home run.
While both his power and approach at the plate are held in high regard, there are some concerns when it comes to the swing-and-miss in Kavadas’ game as well as his ability to succeed against left-handed pitching. Adding on to that, Kavadas is limited in what he can do defensively, so most evaluators have pinned him as a potential platoon designated hitter/bench bat moving forward.
With this promotion, Kavadas — who does not turn 25 until October — will once again be tasked with adjusting to a more advanced level of pitching as he moves one step closer to the major-leagues. Kavadas is the second member of Boston’s 2021 draft class to make the jump from Portland to Worcester this season, joining utilityman Tyler McDonough.
Kavadas will start at first base and bat eighth for the WooSox in their series opener against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp at 121 Financial Ballpark on Friday night.
(Picture of Niko Kavadas: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)
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