.359/.445/.578, 7 HR in 223 AB for Purdue this year.

I actually like him but not this high. Not a fun Day 1.

But hey, I nailed the whole catcher-with-top-5-picks thing.

In a lot of ways, Plawecki is a pick in a similar vein to Gavin Cecchini. They're both guys with contact bats and a good chance to stick at a premium defensive position. You can't find those guys. But while I understood the Cecchini pick, this is more of a headscratcher for me. I have more questions about Plawecki in general. As a defender, he does a lot of things right, but his throwing can be problematic. As an offensive player, he's even more one-dimensional than Cecchini. And he's not as young, so he has less time to learn. I just feel that Plawecki was neither the best player available and that there would be other opportunities to draft catchers nearly as good later on.

Summary :
Plawecki is the best prospect on a Purdue squad that won the Big 10 title for the first time in 103 years and hosted an NCAA regional for the first time as well. He's a fringy defensive catcher who's better at the mental aspects of the position than the physical aspects, but whose ability to make contact should help him become an above-average hitter for the position.

He has a largely linear swing, and while he keeps his weight back well he doesn't use it to drive the ball, instead making a lot of gap-to-gap contact; his swing can get long, which is particularly damaging due to his lack of power, and he'll need to keep it consistently shorter in pro ball. Behind the plate, his receiving is average but his arm is below-average, just not enough to force him off the position. He has an everyday catcher ceiling because of makeup and scarcity at the position he plays.

“Plawecki is an offensive catcher with a lot of ability with the bat. He makes consistent contact with a short swing that allows him to stay in the center of the field. With a contact first approach, Plawecki’s power is fringy right now, but there’s a lot of strength to potentially tap into in the future. While his arm is fringe average, at best, the other parts of his defensive game are more than fine to stay behind the plate. He works with pitchers well, calling his own game. He has good hands, frames pitches and blocks them well. He has the size and body frame you want from a catcher.”