The New York Mets have needed to revamp their farm system over the past few years but have a future star in Ronny Mauricio. At just 19 years old, Mauricio is the top-ranked prospect by the Mets and ranked 62nd in baseball, according to MLB.com.
He is from San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, and was the No. 11 international prospect by MLB Pipeline in 2017 when he signed with the Mets for a 2.1 million signing bonus. In 173 minor league games, he is hitting .270 and just finished his first season with the Columbia Fireflies in A ball.
Strengths
At 6-foot-3 and 166 pounds, Mauricio is a switch hitter but has shown more success from the left side of the plate. In 2018, he hit for a better average and more power from the left side but had reverse splits in 2019, hitting for a better average and more power as a right-handed hitter.
Mauricio also plays exceptional defense. He makes the difficult plays look very easy with his tremendous footwork and athletic body. Mauricio has soft hands and a quick release with a cannon of an arm.
“Ronny is so impressive because he has the potential to defend, throw, run, hit, and hit for power — all while playing a challenging defensive position,” Mets executive director of player development Jared Banner said in an email. “He has shown remarkable poise playing against the older competition so far.
Weakness
In an era in baseball when home runs are at a record pace, Mauricio will need to work to build up his power. He has been able to hit home runs in the minor leagues but not do it consistently enough by never hitting more than four in a season.
Mauricio doesn’t have tremendous speed as well for a shortstop which will prevent him from stealing bases. In 173 minor league games, he has only stolen eight bags and has been caught 16 times. Mauricio also does not walk much. In 470 at-bats last year, he walked 23 times, which led to his on-base percentage being a bit over .300.
Minor League Career
As the top prospect, he has a bit of a leg-up on Andres Gimenez and some of the other shortstops. However, he has yet to play over A ball. With the minor league season on hold, Mauricio may not appear in any games this season if there is no restart.
If he can show he is ready, he may move straight to the major leagues without playing in Triple-A. The Mets have had many of their top prospects come directly from Double-A and make an impact quickly, as Mauricio hopes to do potentially by 2022.
It will also be interesting to see how the Mets use Amed Rosario and Mauricio. New York has floated the idea about moving Rosario to center with all his speed, leaving Mauricio’s spot open in the future. Still, Gimenez has stood out as the number three prospect on the Mets and plays shortstop.
Comparison
If Mauricio can hit for a bit more power, he has the ability to resemble at times like a player like Fernando Tatis Jr. While Mauricio has a lot of work to do to get to that level, they both can hit and play tremendous defense and are highly regarded as some of the next stars in baseball.
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