Playing a full season of professional baseball is no joke. It’s a six-month marathon that can feel like a slog. To break out of a funk, sometimes all a player needs is one specific spark to get them going again. Did the New York Post report from earlier this month about Mets prospect Ronny Mauricio do that for him?
It certainly looks like it.
In what’s been a disappointing year for the Mets, many players/prospects have been called upon from Triple-A. That includes top prospects such as Brett Baty, Francisco Alvarez, and Mark Vientos. Mauricio has constantly been on the outside looking in, despite several bogus reports of his MLB promotion being imminent.
On August 5th, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported Mauricio would need to “seize the opportunity” to get promoted to the big leagues. The article began by making this statement:
The sense within the Mets’ organization is that Ronny Mauricio has become stale — as in disinterested — at Triple-A Syracuse as he awaits a possible callup to the big leagues.
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That’s one helluva lede, now isn’t it?
Of course, when this report hit the interwebs, Mauricio was in the midst of a prolonged slump.
He’s spent the entirety of his 2023 campaign in Triple-A with the Syracuse Mets. For the first month and a half, his bat was literally on fire. Through May 20th (44 games, 191 plate appearances), Mauricio slashed .358/.393/.609. That was accompanied by 20 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 29 RBI, 32 runs scored, and nine steals.
That’s when one of those valleys in production arrived (with an injury mixed in). Mauricio appeared in 51 games and racked up 240 plate appearances between May 21st and August 4th. His triple slash was .235/.296/.385 with six doubles, nine homers, 28 RBI, 27 runs scored, and eight steals during this time.
After Puma’s report dropped, though, Ronny has gotten back to the early-season version of himself. Over his most recent 96 plate appearances, he’s hitting .318/.396/.635. That also includes four doubles, one triple, seven home runs, 14 RBI, 17 runs scored, and seven steals. Oh, and nearly as many walks (11) as strikeouts (16).
He stayed hot on Tuesday night with another three-hit performance, which included his 23rd home run of the year.
Ronny Mauricio is a living fire emoji right now. pic.twitter.com/0pPyk9iu5s
— Syracuse Mets (@SyracuseMets) August 30, 2023
It seems as though he’s gotten a little more comfortable at second base recently, as well.
Ronny Mauricio has played 12 straight games at second base with 3 errors in that span.
Mets are in a spot now where they simply need to call up Mauricio to see what they have going into the 2024 season.
— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) August 30, 2023
As Mike Mayer says above, it’s time for Mauricio to get promoted. Will there be bumps along the way, especially in the field? Yeah, probably. But it sure looks like he’s seized the opportunity in the way New York wanted him to.
Rosters expand later this week when the calendar flips to September. The Mets have been trying to see what they have over the past few weeks with a focus on 2024. At this point, it would be irresponsible to keep Mauricio in Triple-A any longer if he’s truly in the club’s future plans.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
