Former Red Sox prospect Niko Kavadas named Arizona Fall League’s Offensive Player of the Year

Over the weekend, Former Red Sox prospect Niko Kavadas was recognized as the 2024 Arizona Fall League Player of the Year.

Kavadas, one of four players dealt to the Angels for reliever Luis Garcia ahead of July’s trade deadline, stood out in his second AFL stint this fall. The left-handed hitting 26-year-old batted .329/.462/.700 with six doubles, one triple, six home runs, 18 RBIs, 17 runs scored, 17 walks, and 29 strikeouts in 20 games (91 plate appearances) for the Mesa Solar Sox.

Among qualified AFL hitters, Kavadas ranked second in extra-base hits (13), third in slugging percentage, OPS (1.162), isolated power (.371), and total bases (49), sixth in on-base percentage, eighth in walk rate (18.7 percent), and 13th in batting average, per MLB.com’s leaderboards. On the other side of the ball, the burly 6-foot-1, 235-pounder saw playing time at both corner outfield spots for the first time in his career while also making six starts at his primary position in first base.

Originally selected by the Red Sox in the 11th round of the 2021 draft out of Notre Dame, Kavadas quickly worked his way up the organizational ladder before arriving at Triple-A Worcester in July 2023. The slugger returned to the WooSox for the start of the 2024 season and produced a .281/.424/.551 line with 17 home runs and 63 RBIs in 83 games. He was then traded to the Angels with Matthew Lugo, Zeferjahn, and Yeferson Vargas in exchange for Garcia on July 30.

Less than three weeks after switching organizations for the first time, Kavadas was called up by the Angels for his big-league debut on August 16. He cranked a three-run home run for his first MLB hit in Toronto six days later and proceeded to slash .183/.283/.333 with two doubles, four homers, eight RBIs, 11 runs scored, one stolen base, 11 walks, and 41 strikeouts in 30 games (106 plate appearances) for Los Angeles down the stretch.

As noted by MLB.com’s Jim Callis, Kavadas showed his raw power (91.7 mph average exit velocity) and patience (10.4 percent walk rate, 17.7 percent chase rate) in his first taste of action with the Halos in 2024, but he will need to produce more consistently at the plate if he intends to stick in the majors. Adding to his defensive profile by playing the outfield could help in that regard as well.

“Being there and seeing it and getting a taste, you’re aware of what it was that got you out, you’re aware of what it was that you’ve had success on,” Kavadas, MLB Pipeline’s 29th-ranked Angels prospect, told Callis. “Just making sure that you continue to maintain your strengths and make your weaknesses a little less weak is what you can do. So for me, it’s increasing the swing rate, giving myself more opportunities each at-bat.

“I can’t continue to take strikes up there because the guys are too good, the stuff is too good, the command is too good,” he continued. “So I think being out here was good for me and just getting me more comfortable and swinging more often instead of looking for maybe a softball-size tunnel, just a 2-3 softball-sized tunnel. I’m always going to be disciplined and I’m always going to be a little more selective as a hitter. But I think just broadening how wide of a zone I’m willing to swing at is going to be good for me.”