Former Brooklyn Cyclones star Plawecki catches on quickly with Mets

Former Brooklyn Backstop Shines in Big League Debut

April 22, 2015 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

From Coney Island to Flushing in less than three years, former Brooklyn Cyclones Kevin Plawecki was a smash in his Major League debut for the Mets Tuesday night at Citi Field. AP Photo

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It was less than three years ago on Coney Island that then-Brooklyn Cyclones manager Rich Donnelly told us how just how good Kevin Plawecki could be.

And keep in mind that at the time, the 21-year-old catcher was hitting a paltry .171 through his first 10 games as a professional following a standout career at Purdue University.

“The last thing I’m worried about is him,” Donnelly, now the third-base coach for the Seattle Mariners, intimated on that sunny July day at Brooklyn’s MCU Park.

“[Plawecki’s] a true leader and I love him,” added Donnelly of the New York Mets’ supplemental first-round pick (35th overall) in the 2012 MLB Draft. “I like the way he plays the game. He’s a tough kid. He takes charge. I see why he was a supplemental (first-round) pick. He can catch. I like tough guys behind the plate.”

Plawecki enjoyed a 61-game stint with the Baby Bums, batting .250 with seven homers, 27 RBIs and 26 runs scored that summer.

It was the first of four stops he would make through the Mets’ minor league system, including stints at Class A Savannah, Class A Advanced St. Lucie, Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas, before finding himself behind home plate at Citi Field on Tuesday night for his MLB debut.

Called up in an emergency role following an injury to starter Travis d’Arnaud this past weekend, Plawecki didn’t have to wait long to get his first taste of the big leagues.

Mets manager Terry Collins made sure of that.

“If he’s coming, he’s going to play,” Collins told MLB.com even before Plawecki was officially promoted from Las Vegas to Flushing, N.Y. “Can he handle it here? We will most likely find out.”

We found it in a hurry that Plawecki, who hit a sizzling .309 in 111 games across two levels last year, could handle just about anything thrown his way during the streaking Mets’ ninth consecutive victory, a 9-1 triumph over the visiting Atlanta Braves.

The now 24-year-old Carmel, Indiana native went 2-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs scored and even gunned down a base-runner trying to advance to second on a ball in the dirt.

Plawecki, whose mother, father and fiancee attended the contest, admitted to a few pre-game jitters. But much as he did during his days as a Cyclone, the hulking 6-foot-2, 225-pound backstop settled in quite nicely.

“I felt comfortable after that first at-bat,” Plawecki told MLB.com. “I was just happy to make contact to be honest. After that I was pretty excited. I just got back to playing baseball.”

Collins, who revealed that he would continue to play Plawecki as often as possible during d’Arnaud’s absence, was effusive in his praise of the big league neophyte.

“He’s going to be a big league player for a long time,” he said. “We’re very, very lucky that we have the kind of kids that come up and we don’t miss a beat.”

Of course, a catcher’s most important job is working in coordination with his pitchers. Plawecki didn’t miss a beat on that front either Wednesday, guiding starter Jonathan Niese through 6 2/3 innings of four-hit ball.

“It was like he’d been there a time or two,” Niese said of his rookie catcher.

If he continues playing the way he did Tuesday night, Plawecki should be with the Mets for the long haul as they pursue a National League East title this summer.

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In other local sports news, former two-division world champion Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi (33-6, 7 KOs) will return to the ring he helped christen right here in Downtown Brooklyn.

The Bensonhurst native will make his fourth career appearance at the Barclays Center on Friday, May 29 against Danny O’Connor (25-2, 9 KOs) in the co-feature of the 12th card at the state-of-the-art arena since Oct. 2012.

Malignaggi and O’Connor will fight right before Amir Khan faces Chris Algieri in the headline bout as part of the ongoing Premier Boxing Champions Series.

A champion at both 140 and 147-pounds, the 34-year-old Malignaggi hasn’t fought since suffering a fourth-round TKO loss to Shawn Porter in Washington D.C. last April.

“After some much-needed time away from the ring, it feels great to once again be fighting at Barclays Center,” said Malignaggi, who won a unanimous decision over fellow borough native Zab Judah here in December 2013 to grab the unofficial Brooklyn Championship Belt. “I now look forward to being a participant in the PBC events as a fighter just as I am part of the PBC family of broadcasters.”

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On the local private school scene, the Brooklyn Friends boys’ volleyball team is chasing perfection this season.

The Blue Pride Panthers, who won the PSAA Championship last year after going a near-perfect 17-1, are off to an unblemished 7-0 start in the newly formed ACIS boys league under long-time BFS coach Felix Alberto.

“So far, everyone has shown great determination, effort, and commitment to excellence,” noted Alberto. “The team continues making progress with a mix of experienced and inexperienced players.”

Seniors Thomas Chamberlain, Lucas Miller and Griffin Edwards are setting the pace for BFS, which has already knocked off neighborhood rivals St. Ann’s, Packer and Berkeley Carroll without dropping a single one of their 21 sets played this year.

The Pride looked to continue that run Wednesday afternoon against the United Nations School and Thursday vs. LFNY.