The Angels are promoting ex-Red Sox first base prospect Niko Kavadas for his first MLB stint. In order to make space for Kavadas on the roster, the Angels will designate infielder Luis Guillorme for assignment.
Niko is a graduate of Penn high school (2015 4A state champions) and then continued his baseball and academic career at nearby University of Notre Dame. At Notre Dame he lead his team to the 2021 College World Series final.
Boston drafted the 25-year-old Kavadas in the 11th round in 2021 out of Notre Dame. He batted .281 with a .424 on-base percentage, .551 slugging percentage, .975 OPS, 17 homers, 20 doubles, 63 RBIs, 57 runs, 58 walks and 112 strikeouts in 83 games (335 plate appearances) for Triple-A Worcester this season. He’s just 7-for-44 (.159) with a .229 on-base percentage, .341 slugging percentage, .570 OPS, two homers, two doubles, four RBIs, four runs, four walks and 18 strikeouts in 11 games for Triple-A Salt Lake since the trade. Kavadas has posted a .409 on-base percentage and 19.3% walk percentage in the minors. But he also has struck out in 32.5% of his 1,436 minor league plate appearances.
Kavadas, 25, was acquired from the Red Sox alongside three other minor leaguers in the trade sending reliever Luis Garcia to Boston prior to the deadline. He’s posted a combined .264/.400/.521 slash between the two organizations’ Triple-A affiliates this year, though it’s worth noting he’s struggled mightily with the Angels’ top affiliate in Salt Lake, batting just .159/.229/.341 in 48 plate appearances.
An 11th-round pick by the Red Sox in 2021, Kavadas has clear plus power. He hit 26 homers in 515 plate appearances across three levels in 2022, belted 22 homers in just 480 plate appearances last year, and already has 19 long balls in 383 plate appearances this season.
That big-time power comes with a familiar red flag, however, in the form of strikeouts. Fans have seen plenty of three-true-outcomes sluggers over the years, and Kavadas embodies that approach to its fullest extent. A whopping 57% of his professional plate appearances have ended in either a homer, walk or strikeout. This season, he’s punched out in 33.9% of his plate appearances — and that’s actually an improvement over last year’s 35.8% mark. He’s also drawn a walk in a gaudy 16.2% of his trips to the plate.
The 6’1″, 235-pound Kavadas is a well below-average runner, and scouting reports peg his glovework at first base to be below-average as well. His huge power is his carrying tool, and whether he’s able to make enough contact to get to that power with regularity will determine the type of future he has. Players who whiff this much in the upper minors don’t tend to make enough contact to succeed in the big leagues, although Baseball America wrote in 2023 that Kavadas is an “intelligent hitter” with at least a chance to close some of the holes in his swing as he gains more experience.
