Mets fans have been clamoring to give the kids a shot amid a frustrating 2023 season. Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty have gotten that opportunity. More recently, Mark Vientos can be added to that group. What about Ronny Mauricio?
There have been several false rumors about Mauricio being on the verge of a promotion. I’m not sure if it’s faulty intel or just people trying to will it to happen. Either way, it’s been annoying to see those rumors pop up before immediately getting shut down and proven untrue.
As Tuesday’s trade deadline approached, we heard there were several Mets minor leaguers in Kansas City ready to be activated depending on who Billy Eppler traded. And no, Mauricio wasn’t one of those dudes.
Several Mets minor leaguers are at the ready at the team’s KC hotel, waiting to take the place of players they expect to move. Ronny Mauricio is not one of them.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 1, 2023
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So, what gives? Recently, Eppler shared the following thoughts on what else Mauricio needs to work on at Triple-A Syracuse:
"I'd rather that happen [in Syracuse] than up here," Billy Eppler said, adding that Mauricio still has offensive benchmarks the Mets want him to reach as well.
More Eppler: "But we're really excited with what Ronny's done this season. There's a really good future ahead of him."
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) July 23, 2023
Mike Mayer of Metsmerized also shared the following on Thursday regarding one of the Mets’ top prospects:
Few notes on Ronny Mauricio:
– His offense for season is now almost exactly league average at 101 wRC+, strikeouts are down & walks very slightly up
-He has certainly struggled making in-season adjustments to LF/2B, this is mostly on the Mets for not getting him there sooner.
— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) August 3, 2023
Why didn’t the Mets start getting him acclimated to those positions sooner? Like many, they weren’t expecting to be in the position they’re in at this point of the season. I’m also convinced they were thinking he might’ve been used as a trade chip if the Mets were buyers at the trade deadline.
But now, it looks like Ronny has a future with the Mets in the big leagues. When will that be? Whenever we see highlights of him doing something great in Triple-A, it’s easy to think he’s ready for the next step (I’m guilty of this, too). He lit the world on fire during the month of May, as well. However, Mauricio has produced much more pedestrian offensive numbers since the start of June.
Across 118 plate appearances in May, Ronny slashed .367/.407/.541 with one home run, one triple, and 14 doubles. That was accompanied by 17 RBI, 18 runs scored, and five steals. Since June 1st (which includes missed time because of injury), Mauricio has hit .227/.286/.398 with nine homers, four doubles, and 24 RBI in 196 plate appearances.
Should he still get a taste of big-league action before the regular season is through? Yes, I think so — even if it’s just a couple of games like Francisco Alvarez received last fall. We can see how that cup of coffee helped him get acclimated and fight through a slow start in 2023.
Will they, though? While it seems like they’re doing everything possible to keep Mauricio in the minors, the stats don’t lie. It’s not like he’s been on fire at the plate for multiple months. Then again, what do the Mets have to lose right now? Just bring him up at some point in September so he can get a feel for what it’s like.
This feels like a similar situation to what the Mets did with Pete Alonso at the end of 2018. We were clamoring for him to get a September call-up from Triple-A as New York finished up a 77-85 performance, but it never happened. He then had every opportunity to win the starting first base job out in spring training the following season. We all know what happened from there.
It’s also worthwhile to mention how Alonso’s minor-league performance in 2018 was different than what’s currently happening with Mauricio. He led the minors with 36 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A while producing a .975 OPS. Alonso certainly seemed worthy of a call-up and just didn’t get it.
Even with some lackluster offense and learning new positions on the fly, it’s not like Ronny doesn’t deserve a call himself. I mean, it’s not like the Mets are going to be chasing down a postseason spot once that part of the calendar comes around.
It seems like a no-brainer to give Mauricio a taste of the big leagues at some point this year. But then again, New York’s front office may not be thinking the same thing.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
