Adam Agresti’s 2025 stats for St. John’s didn’t jump off the page, screaming Major League draft choice.
Sure, he smacked nine home runs, had 26 RBI and scored 29 runs, in 37 games, but then there was that .210 batting average.
That number didn’t seem to belong to the same former Kennedy Catholic kid who’d begun his freshman year with the Johnnies with such promise — who’d hit .317 with eight RBI and nine runs scored in 12 games before he was shut down with a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
Indeed, the 2025 version of Agresti — the post-Tommy John surgery version — wasn’t the one who’d attracted interest not just from St. John’s but also from Rutgers and Richmond and was viewed as one of the country’s top catching prospects coming out of high school.
But it was the fully recovered, 2026 version of Agresti that the Los Angeles Angels went after Sunday and snagged in the 11th round with the draft’s 319th pick overall.
And that is the version had quite the 2026 resurgence. Agresti hit .297 with 20 home runs and 55 RBI in 62 games.
The Angels were among a few teams that contacted the 21-year-old, expressing interest before the draft. While his primary position is behind the plate, he has played first and is viewed as having the versatility to play in the outfield.
Agresti, a 2023 Kennedy grad, who moved with his family from their Yorktown home to Stamford, Connecticut a couple of years ago, said Monday night that he’ll report in a few days to the Angels’ training facility in Arizona, where the decision will be made whether he’ll be assigned to Rookie ball in Arizona or low A ball in California.
“I’m super excited to get going. I’m definitely happy for the opportunity,” said Agresti, who indicated after an “up and down” 2025 season at St. John’s, he regained his swing and confidence last summer playing with the Newport (Rhode Island) Gulls in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
Inspiration from family, mentors
Agresti’s older brother, Jason, 30, also a catcher and a former Kennedy Catholic and SUNY Binghamton player, is on the independent Rockland Boulders and was just named to his third Frontier League all-star game.
Adam Agresti, who played myriad Yorktown Athletic Club sports when younger, pointed to the example his brother set for him, guidance from Kennedy coach Bob Fletcher and his work beside other aspiring pro athletes at the Velo University training complex in Pleasantville as all contributing to him realizing his dream of reaching professional baseball.
Of Jason, he said he had been able to “model my life after him.”
“I’ve looked up to him my entire life,” said Agresti, who added Fletcher, in part, had helped him “just become a better person.”
Fletcher, who said Agresti was such a good athlete in high school he had played some shortstop, has had had several of his former Kennedy players, as well as some from the club team he formerly coached, the Taconic Rangers, drafted, including former all-star and World Series champion Joe Panik.
Agresti’s selection was no surprise.
“Most scouts call and ask about work ethic, personality and the ability to accept criticism. … He has all of that,” Fletcher said.
Agresti, who called being drafted “surreal,” said his plan in Arizona and beyond will mirror what he has tried to do for years — “just constantly working hard and staying in the moment.”
Nancy Haggerty covers sports for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Adam Agresti eager for opportunity after being drafted by MLB’s Angels
Reporting by Nancy Haggerty, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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By Nancy Haggerty, Rockland/Westchester Journal News | USA TODAY Network
