Kevin Kaczmarski noticed something different recently during his offseason workouts.

Something vastly and relievingly different.

The New York Mets minor league outfielder had grown so accustomed to dealing with the pain in his abdomen that he forgot what normal felt like.

“I got so used to babying it and shutting it off and limiting my movement so it wouldn’t hurt me,” said Kaczmarski, a 2010 Prairie Ridge graduate. “So now it’s kind of cool; I can be explosive and not think about what I have to do.”

That Kaczmarski played as well as he did, hitting .280 and driving in 46 runs between the Mets’ Class A affiliates in Columbia, South Carolina, and St. Lucie, Florida, is remarkable considering what he was up against.

Kaczmarski thought he had an abdominal strain that refused to heal properly because of his high level of activity. Finally, after the season when it still was nagging him, he discovered the problem was a tear of his rectus abdominus, “the six-pack muscles” as Kaczmarski called it.

Suddenly, everything made more sense. There was a legitimate reason for the constant nagging pain. And after surgery in early December, Kaczmarski is even more excited as he looks toward his second full minor league season.

Kaczmarski became known through Prairie Ridge’s run to the 2008 Class 4A state championship. He and Justin Henderson were sophomore call-ups for the postseason and were utilized by Wolves coach Dave Haskins for their blazing speed as pinch runners.

Kaczmarski assumed a much bigger role as center fielder his junior and senior seasons and earned a scholarship to NCAA Division I Evansville. He finished his career with the Purple Aces by leading the NCAA in batting average (.465) and triples (nine) in 2015. The Mets took the speedy left-handed hitter in the ninth round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft.

In April last year, just after spring training, Kaczmarski headed to the Columbia Fireflies, who were playing in a brilliant new stadium that won Field of the Year honors in the minors. He was in the everyday lineup, in right field or left field.

“I noticed something in my lower ab and (right) groin area and thought, ‘This doesn’t feel too good,’ ” said Kaczmarski, who is 25. “But I kept playing through it, tried to tolerate it. It’s minor league ball. You don’t want to be the guy who’s always out for injuries or be the guy who can’t play through pain.”

Eventually, the pain worsened and Kaczmarski talked with the Fireflies trainer. He took a couple of weeks off, then forged ahead, although the pain was still there.

“It was kind of nagging me, but that comes with injuries,” Kaczmarski said. “You get to the point where you could play. It might nag you, but at least you could play. I noticed it in the weight room with certain lifts. In the game, you don’t notice it as much because of your adrenaline. I just felt it all the time. I was like, ‘Man, this thing isn’t right.’ ”

Kaczmarski kept plugging away and was promoted to high-A St. Lucie, where he will go for spring training next month. He hit even better at that level (.301) and stole eight bases without being caught.

When he finished the season, Kaczmarski looked forward to some rest to finish the healing process, but the abdomen still hurt. He called his trainer and was flown to Philadelphia, where the Mets’ doctor for that area of the body works. The doctor quickly diagnosed Kaczmarski’s injury as a torn rectus abdominus.

“Luckily my mom (Valerie) went with me so I had somebody to chill with,” Kaczmarski said. “They reattached the muscle. It was my fourth or fifth surgery I’ve had, and as far as the day after, it was the most painful. You use your abdominals for everything. If I talked too loud, if I sneezed, if I laughed, it hurt so bad.”

Kaczmarski was sent to a yoga class the next day to start breaking down scar tissue. It was excruciating, and he thought he was going to retear the muscle. But he was assured that area of the body heals quickly, and in a few weeks he felt almost normal.

Kaczmarski has been back in Cary with his parents, Randy and Valerie, for the offseason and plans to start hitting again soon now that he has healed. As frustrating as the 2016 season was, he was glad he battled through it.

“I was talking to (Prairie Ridge assistant basketball coach) Ray Card, and he said it was probably a blessing to play through it,” Kaczmarski said. “If I had surgery, I could have missed half the season. I played through and did well with it. You don’t want to be missing games all the time.

“When you get to the big leagues, you’re established. But in the minor leagues, you have guys trying to take your spot, you’re trying to take their spot. You miss time, and it doesn’t reflect as the greatest thing. It’s one of those things that if you overcome and stay focused, good things can happen.”