Adopted - Kai Gronauer

[Frayed Knot]

Adam Rubin's blog:

Kai Gronauer played several sports as a youth growing up in Solingen, Germany, including soccer, tennis, handball and swimming. His first exposure to baseball came when he was 10 or 11, when a friend took him to a practice for a local team after hearing about the sport.
A decade later, Gronauer is a Mets farmhand, impressing team brass as the catcher at low-A Savannah. The 22-year-old Gronauer is hitting .237 with a homer and two RBI in 38 at-bats in the South Atlantic League.
�My best friend took me to a practice,� Gronauer said. �He heard from the pitcher that there was a baseball team. I stayed with it. That�s how I got to baseball.�
�If you�re talking about playing against Team Cuba and Venezuela and Korea and teams like that, he�s pretty well equipped to come over and compete,� said Lionel Chattelle, a German-based scout, referring to Gronauer�s experience while representing the country in international tournaments. �He�s an outstanding guy. He�s mature. He�s hard-working and he�s got the physical tools. If all goes well and he stays healthy, I think he�ll move up quickly."

The caliber of baseball in Germany has steadily risen since Gronauer started. Chattelle, who is originally from Connecticut and coached opposite Gronauer in Germany, said he could tell the catcher had the required skills to come to the United States.
�I was extremely impressed by him at 18 years old�at the maturity and the way he handled the pitching staff, the way he calmed them down,� Chattelle said. �He just had a sense of how to play the position, even at 18. He has an outstanding arm. He runs really well for a catcher. I think he led the league in stolen bases that year. He has a very quick bat, stays inside the ball and drives the ball well.

�He played in the World Cup and also got into the Olympics trials. He was catching two different pitchers that had major-league stuff�one of Cuban origin, who has a German passport, that he was catching, and also a guy who played for me in Bonn who was in the Twins system who could get it up to the mid-90s. That�s when I was really sold on him. He handled them and their stuff.
�The analogy that I use for him playing-wise, just my view when I looked at him, I drew a comparison between him and Paul Lo Duca as players. He�s a guy that makes contact, doesn�t strike out a lot, has the potential for some power and is going to be an outstanding defensive catcher and leader.�

Still, Gronauer said, playing in the minors has been a step up in competition.
�It is a big step up. The German pitching is not as advanced as Latin American and American pitching speed-wise,� he said. �The speed of the game is not as fast, but we are developing very well in Germany. The playing level gets better every year. The top teams in Germany always bring in American players. My team right now brought in a player that played Double-A a couple of years.�

There are only three other German players currently in minor-league baseball, who don�t appear on 40-man rosters: lefthander Michael Anton (Angels), righthander Jennell Hudson (Red Sox) and center fielder Jacob Shaffer (Mariners). Chattelle, who officially joined the Mets in 2007, has brought two other European players to the Mets: Marinus Vernooij, 19, from Holland and Thomas DeWolf, 18, from Belgium.
Gronauer said his parents, particularly mother Cornelia, don�t fully grasp the sport and its terms. His father, Achim, hopes to get to the United States soon to see his son play for the Sand Gnats. He owns a pocket-knife factory and does business here.
�My mother is scared of flying,� Gronauer said. �I told her I�d buy her the plane tickets as soon as I play in Citi Field.�

[Guest themetfairy]

Kai is making progress, but has some work to do if he wants to advance past the Sand Gnats level

German catcher Kai Gronauer of the Savannah Sand Gnats (Single-A Mets) went three-for-four with a walk and a RBI on Wednesday, raising his batting average of the season to .246 (OBP .323/SLG .333) thru 17 games.

[Guest themetfairy]

Kai missed yesterday's game with a sore groin.

[Guest themetfairy]

Like many of his major league brethren, Kai now sits on the disabled list.

[Guest themetfairy]

Kai homered in last night's Sand Gnats win over Charleston.

[Guest themetfairy]

Kai's bat seems to be coming along -

Kai Gronauer went 1-for-4 in the game offensively and now has a 10-game hitting streak which is one shy of the season-high set by Eric Campbell.

[Guest themetfairy]

Kai is catching for Germany in the Baseball World Cup.

[Guest themetfairy]

Kai is still in the organization, but has been assigned to the minor league camp.

[Guest themetfairy]

Kai is an All Star!

[MFS62]

Kai will be among six Savannah players who will be promoted to St. Lucie after the SAL All-Star game.
http://www.thepaper24-7.com/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=23&ArticleID=26545
Later

[Guest themetfairy]

That's my boy!

[Benjamin Grimm]

Top talent the alligator!

[Guest themetfairy]

The kid is alright in St. Lucie

[MFS62]

themetfairy wrote: The kid is alright in St. Lucie

Good for your kid.
That linked article is a keeper. Especially where it calls Ollie Perez a right-hander.
Is he working on something during his rehab we don't know about?
Later

[Guest themetfairy]

Kai will stick around stateside for a while and play in the AFL this fall.

[Guest themetfairy]

Amazin' Avenue has an interview with Kai

[MFS62]

He's gone 0-7 in his first few AFL games.

Later

[Guest themetfairy]

Kai is a non-roster invitee to Major League camp this year.

[Benjamin Grimm]

The latest on "Top Talent":

MLB.com wrote: German talent Gronauer finding way with Mets Initially overwhelmed, catcher transforming into legitimate prospect By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The Solingen Alligators play their home games on a modest diamond in western Germany, soccer country, directly adjacent to -- of course -- a soccer field. Most of Kai Gronauer's childhood friends preferred that sport; Gronauer himself limited his athletic pursuits to soccer and tennis until the age of 10. But one friend in particular suggested he try baseball, and the young man took to it. Later, Gronauer became an Alligator, overwhelming the local competition but never realizing his potential. He knew he was good for an amateur player, and he knew he was good when he joined the German national team as a teenager. He just didn't know what any of that meant. "It would be similar to being a cricket player from the United States," said fellow catcher Mike Nickeas. "It would be difficult to kind of benchmark yourself compared to other athletes." It was not until a two-week international tournament in Barcelona that Gronauer caught the eye of Major League scouts and realized he was a good baseball player, period. Contract offers began coming in from big league teams, including a two-year deal from the Mets that lured him to rookie ball in Port St. Lucie. Then, at some point shortly after arriving, Gronauer looked around and realized, "Oh God, it's different here." "It's a lot harder," he said, reflecting back on his early days in the States. "It's tougher. I didn't know if I could do this. But then, at the same time, I thought, 'Well, I'm having fun here doing my job. I would not like to be in an office in Germany right now doing paperwork.'" His office instead is an oversized catcher's locker at Digital Domain Park, five stalls down from Nickeas (who played for Great Britain in the Barcelona tournament) and four down from starting backstop Josh Thole. Unlike those two, Gronauer will not break camp with the Mets; he'll probably be among the first players cut for the second consecutive spring. But there's little shame in that. In fewer than three years, the 24-year-old has transformed himself from an international question mark to a legitimate catching prospect in big league camp. "It's baseball heaven. It's unbelievable," Gronauer said. "I have no idea how to put it in words, as happy as I am." It wasn't always that way. In his first season stateside, Gronauer broke his thumb and missed four months, appearing in only 16 games. He was lonely in Florida, not accustomed to a culture saturated by smartphones and hamburgers. "You miss your family," Gronauer said. "You miss the food and everything." Struggling again the following season in Class A ball, Gronauer returned to the South Atlantic League last spring and improved his numbers across the board. That earned him a promotion to Class A Advanced St. Lucie, where Gronauer batted .324 with two home runs in 139 at-bats. Now, the trepidation is gone, the culture shock has faded and a quick glance at Gronauer offers little hint at the man's German upbringing. His accent is noticeable only when he is searching for a particular word -- one of Gronauer's favorite foods, for example, is a type of stew he cannot translate into English. Catching Venezuelan teammate Francisco Rodriguez's bullpen session on Wednesday, Gronauer sounded like any other backstop in camp, yelling out encouragement each time Rodriguez popped his glove with a particularly well-placed fastball. His demeanor reveals nothing of his heritage. Gronauer may miss cabbage stew, but he never shows it. "That was the surprising thing," Nickeas said. "I think he's assimilated himself very well. He handles himself properly, like he's been an American." If Gronauer eventually advances to the big leagues, he will become one of about three-dozen Major Leaguers born in Germany or West Germany, a list almost completely devoid of players who were also raised in Europe. Most, like pitcher Edwin Jackson of the White Sox, were born on military bases and raised in the United States. Gronauer could become a notable exception. His ultimate hope is that success here will breed interest back home, where even Gronauer's family does not entirely understand the nuances of the game. Among European nations, Germany lags well behind Italy and the Netherlands -- which draws its talent largely from Caribbean islands Aruba and Curacao -- in terms of baseball pedigree. Gronauer aims to change that. "I want to be an ambassador for baseball, especially in Germany," Gronauer said. "It's a very interesting sport. I think German people could be interested in it."

[Guest themetfairy]

Kai had a 3-run homer in yesterday's spring training game. Not too shabby!

As a reward, he was cut from major league camp....

[Ceetar]

Kai was last seen sporting his green st. Patricks Day hat in Vine and Barley (great place btw) last night around 8:30. Him, Justin Turner, and Scott Hairston were in there for a half hour or so and then left. My wife asked him where he got the hat (she wants one) and he, somewhat sheepishly, said "actually, I play there." or something to that effect.

[Ceetar]

Not having a great season, and missed a good chunk with an injury to his left hamstring.

He's hitting .228 for Binghamton, his first promotion above A ball.

[Ceetar]

btw, apparently Verabschiedung is German for adoption.

[Guest themetfairy]

I haven't been an attentive parent lately, but Kai had a great game against Trenton on Saturday.

And for the first time, I had the opportunity to take some pictures of the kid in action -

[Guest themetfairy]

Believe it or not, Kai is still hanging around Binghamton. But his one hit yesterday only brought his batting average up to a less-than-whopping .167.

It doesn't seem likely that Kai is going to get a major league call-up any time soon.