Mets prospect Ronny Mauricio: ‘It’s my dream to play Major League Baseball’
With the Mets currently 9.5 games out of the final National League Wild Card, fans have been keeping one eye on the future, and perhaps no Mets prospect is more in the spotlight when it comes to that future than Ronny Mauricio.
The slugging infielder has been on a tear for Triple-A Syracuse this season, slashing .295/.349/.860 with 23 home runs, 71 RBI, and an International League-leading 143 hits. And despite other Mets prospects like Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty and Mark Vientos getting a taste of major league action this season, Mauricio has yet to get his call to the bigs.
But as Mauricio said in a recent interview with MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, he still has his sights set on playing in Queens.
“It would mean the world to me,” Mauricio told DiComo, via a team interpreter, about getting called up. “It’s my dream to play Major League Baseball.”
One of the reasons why Mauricio has not yet been called up to the Mets is the fact that he’s been shuffled around the diamond as the Mets front office looks to find the best spot for him to play.
A natural shortstop, Mauricio got a test in left field but didn’t exactly take to it. He’s since been moved to second base, which could be where he finds a permanent home, but this positional uncertainty hasn’t made things easy for the 22-year-old.
“It’s been difficult, because I only played shortstop [earlier],” Mauricio told DiComo. “So to try new positions at this level and not really knowing what to do has been a little frustrating. But just learning and getting better as the season goes on, it feels like I’m making strides toward the right direction.
“I’m trying to learn things on the fly. I feel like I’m doing a good job, but it’s a learning process.”
Plate discipline has been another reason why Mauricio hasn’t made his way to the majors quite yet, but he’s shown improvement in that area. After striking out 125 times in 123 games last season, Mauricio has punched out 96 times in 115 games in 2023.
And his teammates have taken notice of his more patient approach.
“He’s starting to understand you can’t hit every single pitch,” Baty told DiComo. “I know there are outliers like Elly De La Cruz hitting balls at his head over the fence and stuff, and [Mauricio] does that, too. But what he did [when he walked multiple times in a recent game against Buffalo], I told him, ‘Dude, you had an approach, you stuck to it, you looked calm the entire way. … That’s the stuff that’s going to get you to the big leagues.’”
Perhaps as the calendar flips over to September and the roster expands, Mauricio will finally get the call to make his MLB debut. But fans can be certain that Mauricio will not take making his debut for granted.
Source: Yahoo Sports
