Kaczmarski is the 198th former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Waterloo Buck Kevin Kaczmarski, made his Major League debut for the New York Mets on Sunday, June 24, 2018. Kaczmarski is the 198th former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Kaczmarski, who played collegiately at the University of Evansville, played for the Waterloo Bucks in 2012 and 2014. He was drafted by the New York Mets in the 9th round of the 2015 MLB Draft.
In 58 games with the Bucks during the 2012 season Kaczmarski hit .361 with 10 home runs and 55 RBI. He also had 14 doubles, four triples and stole 14 bases. In 2014 he played in 44 games and hit .313 with six home runs, 14 doubles and three triples. He drove in 40 runs and stole eight bases.
Kaczmarski started his Minor League career in 2015 with the Kingsport Mets of the Rookie level Appalachian League. He played in 64 games and hit .355 with four home runs and 34 RBI. He also had 18 doubles, five triples and stole 20 bases.
Kaczmarski was promoted to start the 2016 season to the Columbia Fireflies of the Lo-A South Atlantic League. He played in 69 games for Columbia before moving up to the St. Lucie Mets of the Hi-A Florida State League. Between the two teams he played in 111 games and hit .280 with two home runs, 29 doubles and 10 triples. He also stole 14 bases and walked 50 times.
For the 2017 season, Kaczmarski moved up again to AA with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in the Eastern League. Over 128 games he hit .274 with 18 doubles, five triples and five home runs. He drove in 52 runs, scored 66 runs and stole 15 bases.
Prior to being called up by the Mets, Kaczmarski had played in nine games with St. Lucie before moving up to AAA with the Las Vegas 51s of the Pacific Coast League. He was hitting a combined .346 with three doubles, two triples and 11 runs driven in. He had stolen three bases and walked 13 times.
In his Major League debut against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kaczmarski entered the game in the bottom of the fourth inning as a pinch hitter for former Rochester Honker and La Crosse Logger Tim Peterson. He would be retired on a ground out as former St. Cloud River Bat Austin Barnes, the catcher for the Dodgers, would throw him out at first.
###
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 190 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.