The New York Mets want Ronny Mauricio to cool it down before they call him up.
The uber-talented, long-awaited ballplayer from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, is nearing the end of his recovery from a torn ACL in his right knee, suffered in December 2023 while playing Dominican Winter Ball. Touted as a potential “X factor” for the Mets, Mauricio has been looking the part at Triple-A Syracuse.
In seven games with Syracuse, Mauricio is slashing .560/.586/.960, with an absurd OPS of 1.546. He has three home runs with seven RBIs, and Mauricio has been held to just one hit in only one game, knocking out two or more in the other six appearances.
“He’s just looking like an absolute man possessed,” said Tyler Ward of the WardyNYM podcast.
But talking on the SNY podcast “Mets Off Day,” Mets play-by-play radio broadcaster Keith Raad said the team would prefer that Mauricio face a bit of adversity while still at Syracuse. Raad told show host Chelsea Sherrod that the coaches want to be sure Mauricio has his “sea legs under him” and can handle bad stretches as well as hot streaks.
“The Mets actually want him to spend enough time up there [at Syracuse] where he scuffles for a week and then figures it out,” Raad said. “That’s kind of what they want to see before they bring him up, because he’s raking at Triple-A. We’ve seen a lot of guys do that, and then they get to the major leagues and maybe they run into a little bit of a struggle. Not that Ronny can’t get out of something like that, but they’d rather have him get that ‘season feel’ at Triple-A.”
Ronny Mauricio Flashes Bat Skills With Triple-A Syracuse
Mauricio is also playing on a limited schedule, only recently starting to play in back-to-back games, followed by a day or two out of the lineup. Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns told media on Friday that Mauricio will likely stay on that schedule for a while longer.
“We’re most focused on him getting the reps under him, getting the volume, hopefully continuing to swing a really hot bat,” Stearns said.
Additionally, there is a glut of infielders currently filling the spots in and around shortstop Francisco Lindor and first baseman Pete Alonso. And with the Mets in a battle for NL East supremacy, trailing the Philadelphia Phillies by a game, making playing time considerations for a rookie with specific requirements coming back from a major injury should not be on manager Carlos Mendosa’s to-do list right now.
“He was out of baseball for so long,” Newsday’s Laura Albanese said on the SNY podcast. “Obviously, he’s a very talented player, he’s a five-tool player. They could use his bat-to-ball skills, they could use his power to all fields. Yes, absolutely, but you have to make sure that it’ll translate at the major league level. You don’t want to expose him too much right now, and also we go back to that idea of, if he comes up here, will he get regular playing time, will he get regular at bats, because that infield is so crowded.”
Ronny Mauricio Could Provide Mets With a ‘Jolt’ When Ready for Call Up
One of the most high-profile international signings in franchise history, Mauricio joined the Mets as a 16-year-old in 2017. After Mauricio’s steady climb through the system, ranking top three among Mets prospects from 2019 to 2022, Mets fans had a glimpse of his potential as a September callup in 2023, as he batted .248, with two homers and nine RBIs in 26 games.
He began his rehab assignment in late April, playing five quick games with Single-A St. Lucie, then five more with Double-A Binghamton. Mauricio totaled four hits in 32 at bats (.125) at the two stops, with no home runs and three RBIs, while striking out 12 times and walking just twice.
But in his first game for Syracuse on May 18, Mauricio went 2-for-2 with a stolen base and a strikeout. Mauricio then homered in his next two starts, and he hasn’t cooled off since. Perhaps most telling, he has five strikeouts against three walks in his seven Triple-A appearances.
“He is just a freak athlete, can hit with power from both sides,” Raad said.
Defensively, Mauricio has been splitting time evenly between third base and second base. If the current options at those spots such as Brett Baty, Jeff McNeil and Mark Vientos fail to increase production over the next several weeks, Raad said he could see Mauricio called up and potentially providing “that next jolt from Triple-A,” similar to what Jose Iglesias did for the team in 2024.
“If things stay kind of dull offensively, yeah, he’s definitely someone to keep our eyes on moving forward,” Raad said.
But rest assured, Mauricio’s time is coming, and soon.
“Does he need more seasoning? Absolutely, that’s why the Mets are not going out of their way to rush him up to the major leagues right now,” Ward said. “And there’s a reality where Ronny does not get called up for a number of weeks still, because they just want to make sure that he’s defensively sound first and foremost, and that’s perfectly fine if that’s the case. But I mean, I don’t really think there’s anything else that he needs to prove at the minor league front.”
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