Mets fans have been clamoring for Ronny Mauricio to get promoted to the big leagues pretty much all year. There have been many debunked rumors about it being on the verge of taking place, too. Could it finally be happening soon, though?
General manager Billy Eppler recently detailed some of the things New York wants to see from Mauricio before bringing him to Queens. But with the recent demotion of Brett Baty, I wanted to see them swap places. That didn’t come to pass, which should be a surprise to nobody.
But something interesting happened during the Syracuse Mets’ game on Tuesday. Mauricio made his organizational debut at third base. He manned the hot corner for a total of nine games in his career heading into 2023. However, all of those occurrences came during the Dominican Winter League last offseason.
Mauricio went 1-for-5 at the dish during a 3-0 win for Syracuse. That one hit was this opposite-field home run:
Ronny Mauricio goes oppo for his 17th home run of the year 💣 pic.twitter.com/xFyAE7Hhiu
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) August 8, 2023
Should we read too much into him playing third base? I mean, if he’s going to have a future with the Mets, we know it’ll need to be at a different position. Mauricio is a natural shortstop, a spot on the diamond that’ll be occupied by Francisco Lindor for at least the rest of this decade. The 22-year-old has mostly spent his time learning second base, as well as left field thus far in 2023.
Since Mets fans have nothing else to do for the rest of this year but read too much into things, that’s exactly what’s going to happen. This tweet from MLB insider Hector Gomez will help with that:
SOURCE: Buck Showalter told prospect Ronny Mauricio that he will be starting tomorrow at 3rd base for the Syracuse Mets, he will no longer be playing the outfield. Brett Baty will play another position. pic.twitter.com/emkizqeGz0
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) August 8, 2023
I’m not exactly sure why Buck Showalter would be the one delivering this message to Ronny. But then again, hours after Gomez said this, Mauricio was taking up residence at the hot corner.
We’ll see how consistent his playing time at that position will be moving forward once Baty starts suiting up for Syracuse again. He hasn’t appeared in a game yet after officially getting optioned back to Triple-A prior to Monday’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs.
Mike Puma of the New York Post said Mauricio will rotate between second base, shortstop, and third base moving forward:
Mets are planning to begin a rotation at Syracuse in which Ronny Mauricio will play 2B, SS and 3B – probably twice a week at each position. Mauricio hadn't been playing 3B.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) August 8, 2023
Regardless of the larger implications of this move, it’s good to get Ronny some reps at third base. Why not, right? There’s no harm in giving him some time there to see if he takes to the position well or not. It also wouldn’t be a terrible thing for Baty to get reps elsewhere, as well. Just in case.
We’ll see if this helps him get to the big leagues quicker or ends up just being a nothingburger.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
