Mets claim Gosuke Katoh off waivers

The New York Mets have claimed 27-year-old Gosuke Katoh off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays and assigned him to Triple-A Syracuse.

Katoh has 11 major league plate appearances to his name, all of which came with the Blue Jays this year. While jumping to any conclusions based on such a tiny sample of major league playing time, he’s hit .143/.400/.286 in that time.

Drafted out of Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego by the Yankees in the second round of the 2013 amateur draft, Katoh spent the 2013 through 2019 seasons in that organization. Like all minor league players who didn’t get a major league call-up in 2020, Katoh didn’t play in an affiliated game that year, but he spent the 2021 season with the Padres’ Triple-A team. In 402 plate appearances there, he hit .306/.388/.474 with eight home runs and eight stolen bases in twelve attempts.

Defensively, Katoh has spent the vast majority of his professional career playing second base, with some experience at first base, third base, shortstop, and in the outfield.