The Mets signed Ronny Mauricio to a $2.1 million signing bonus in the 2017-18 international signing period, which has only been topped by top prospect Francisco Alvarez ($2.8 million), so the 21-year-old was almost immediately slotted into multiple top 100 prospect lists.
Mauricio has bounced around top prospect lists for the last few years, peaking at No. 62 on MLB Pipeline’s list prior to the 2020 season.
In 2019, Mauricio had his first full season stateside with, at the time, Low-A Columbia where he arrived standing 6-foot-2 and a skinny 160 pounds or so. He posted a .665 OPS with 29 extra base hits in 116 games. The takeaways after his first pro season were that he needed to physically mature and adjust to professional pitching.
As I mentioned in my writeup on Matt Allan, the 2020 season not occurring due to COVID-19 really cost Mauricio a year of playing development. However, he took advantage of the time to remake his body and reported to spring training in 2021 at just around 200 pounds.
That weight gain had the result that many were expecting as Mauricio’s power numbers spiked in a big way with 40 extra-base hits, including 20 home runs, in 108 games between High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton as a 20-year- old.
At that stage, the Mets were looking for him to work further on his plan at the plate. He had a .296 on-base percentage, but beyond simply not drawing walks, he chased pitches that did not give him the chance to do damage to the baseball.
Unfortunately, the 2022 season was a little more of the same as 2021 in that regard as he had the same .296 on-base percentage. Although, to his credit, he did start to get better with pitch selection as the season went on.
Mauricio continued to develop physically with Binghamton, tallying 54 extra base hits, including 26 home runs to go along with 20 stolen bases. Stealing bases won’t be a big part of his game long-term, but it was evident that he worked on his athleticism as well.
Mauricio had a big offseason as he was recently named the MVP of the Dominican Winter League. In 47 games for Tigres del Licey, he had an .803 OPS and led the league in hits (54), doubles (15) and RBI (31). He also hit five home runs and even drew 10 walks in that 47-game stretch.
One important note is that Mauricio played a position other than shortstop for the first time in his pro career, getting appearances at third base and even one at second base. This is a key development when looking ahead to 2023.
Admittedly, I have long been the low man on Mauricio (he is ranked seventh in the system in my latest top 20 prospect list). I am concerned about his plate discipline and where he truly projects defensively.
It is possible that drawing walks is never going to be a big part of his game, which can be OK. He needs to get more selective at the plate so he can truly use that above-average power consistently. Could his offensive profile be Javier Baez-esque? I think many Mets fans would sign up for that.
Mauricio’s long-term defensive home is frankly anyone’s guess at this point. The only thing we know is that shortstop is taken by Francisco Lindor and third base is taken by Carlos Correa at the big-league level for the rest of the 2020’s, so it has to be somewhere else.
Mauricio had the aforementioned small sample size at second base this winter, but people I talk to think he has the profile to translate to the outfield. It is all a projection at this point, and it is imperative that when Mauricio gets to St. Lucie for spring training that the Mets began looking for his long-term defensive home.
He should begin the 2023 season with Triple-A Syracuse, which makes him simply a call away from the big leagues. With some continued growth in his pitch selection at the plate and a defensive home, he could be bringing that 20-plus home run type of bat to Queens sooner than later.