If you’ve been following Notre Dame baseball for the past few years, you won’t be surprised by Niko Kavadas‘ successful first-rounder in the minor leagues after being drafted by the BostonRed Sox in the 11th round in 2021.
๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ - ๐ก๐ถ๐ธ๐ผ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐
— Notre Dame Baseball (@NDBaseball) July 13, 2021
With the 316th overall pick in the 11th round, the @RedSox selected Irish slugger Niko Kavadas!!#IrishInMLB x #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/HexH7EvTuz
Niko Kavadas Is the Only Red Sox Minor Leaguer With 100 Or More Walks This Season
Red Sox prospect Niko Kavadas hit 26 homers, 25 doubles and one triple in 120 games this season while making two promotions. The 2021 11th-round picks from Notre Dame range from Low-A Salem to High-A Greenville to Double-A Portland. He has added strength and tremendous plate discipline and he is the only Red Sox minor leaguer with 100 or more walks this season.
Brian Abraham, Red Sox director of player development said Niko Kavadas hits 450 feet very easily. “I was just in Portland watching them play in the playoffs and he had a shot in the bullpen in right field,” said Brian.
This season, Kavadas hit .280 with a .990 OPS in 120 games between the Red Sox’s single-A, high-A and double-A. He leads the entire Red Sox minor league system in batting average (.547), OPS, and RBI (tied), while ranking second in home run and on-base percentage (0.443) >
Put it all together, and it’s easy to see why Kavadas was named the Red Sox Minor League Offensive Player of the Year on Monday.
The Irish are doing big things!
— Notre Dame Baseball (@NDBaseball) September 26, 2022
Congrats to our ND Alum @NikoKavadas for being named the @redsox MiLB 2022 Offensive Player of the Year!#GoIrishโ๏ธ pic.twitter.com/t7V42Dv6KU
From 2018 to 2021, Cavadas hit .280 with a .416 hit rate while hitting 46 homers at Notre Dame.
“With my size, I’m bigger, and I think I can handle wood bats better,” Kavadas said. “And I think that adjustment was a little bit smaller for me because of my physique. My sophomore year in college, I played in the Cape Cod League with wood bats. I hit nine or ten homers. When I didn’t feel like strength was a sacrifice when I jumped from a metal bat to a wooden bat. So I wasnโt really concerned about that heading into the season.”
