LOS ANGELES -- It was only two seasons ago that No. 9 prospect Ronny Mauricio -- then a slender, athletically gifted 22-year-old -- debuted in the Majors amidst significant fanfare. In his first at-bat, he crushed a 117.3 mph double, which remains the hardest ball any Met has hit since that time.
Two years and a pair of knee surgeries later, Mauricio returned to the Majors in the wake of Mark Vientos’ hamstring injury, arriving at Dodger Stadium an older, hardened player. Adversity has shaped the early portion of his career in ways he never anticipated. Mauricio says it helped him grow. And while the Mets still harbor significant expectations for their former top prospect, they understand the situation has changed.
"We don’t want him to be the savior,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
In the Mets’ ideal world, Mauricio wouldn’t even be in the Majors quite yet. It was only five weeks ago that Mauricio returned to competitive game action for the first time since December 2023, when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. It was only two weeks ago that he ended his Minor League rehab assignment and officially became a healthy player. The Mets would have loved to give Mauricio a few more chances at Triple-A Syracuse before throwing him into the cauldron of Major League games.
But Vientos’ injury created an immediate need at the big league level. As a switch-hitter capable of playing second base, third base and shortstop, Mauricio represented their clear best option.
The 24-year-old was as hot as a player can be in the Minors, slashing .515/.564/.818 in nine games prior to his callup. Mauricio hit multiple balls over 100 mph during that stretch, confirming his reputation as one of the game’s hardest hitters.
“He’s very talented,” Mendoza said. “We know there’s skills there. But we have to be patient with it. Yeah, he had some really good results, but it was a long process for him.”
In his last healthy Minor League season before his callup in 2023, Mauricio slashed .292/.346/.506 with 23 home runs in 116 games. Since signing a record $2.1 million bonus as a 16-year-old in 2017, he has routinely ranked among the Mets’ best prospects, topping out at No. 1 in the system in 2020. That year, Mauricio rated as the 62nd-best prospect in baseball. Three years later, he debuted in New York.
But that offseason, Mauricio shredded his knee playing in the Dominican Winter League. He missed the entire next season, undergoing a second operation over the summer to remove scar tissue from the joint.
“It was a long process,” Mauricio said, adding that he spent the extra time focusing on his personal growth, including twice-weekly English lessons. “I think it’s the hardest process I’ve passed in my career. But that helped me a lot to learn how to use my body in everything I do. … You learn a lot. I’m a better person, a better player.”
“I’m feeling great,” he continued. “I’m feeling like I’m the same person I was before my surgeries.”
This spring, the Mets put Mauricio on a deliberate progression in hopes of avoiding any further physical problems. As recently as last week, president of baseball operations David Stearns outlined plans to continue taking things slowly with Mauricio with an eye toward his long-term health and development. Stearns cited swing decisions as a specific area that Mauricio needed to improve.
“He’s going to be aggressive -- that’s part of what makes him who he is,” Mendoza said. “He’s an aggressive hitter, and he’s going to go out there and he’s going to hack. We will continue to teach him. We will continue to present ideas of how we can help him continue to get better.”
As for Vientos, the Mets flew him to New York on Tuesday for further testing to determine the severity of his hamstring strain. While a best-case scenario would have Vientos missing only a couple of weeks, a longer absence seems likely given the nature of his injury.
For as long as Vientos is sidelined, Mauricio will play third base, second base and DH on a semi-regular basis, but the Mets don’t need to overwork him with Brett Baty, Jeff McNeil and Luisangel Acuña all also capable of manning those positions. Mauricio has yet to play more than two consecutive nine-inning games in the field and is unlikely to see his restrictions fully lifted in the Majors.
“He’s going to get a lot of opportunities here,” Mendoza said, “but we’re going to continue to watch him closely.”