The New York Mets have called up infield prospect Ronny Mauricio as active rosters expand to 28 players, the team announced Friday. He's in the lineup, playing second base and batting ninth, against the Mariners.
Mauricio, 22, has enjoyed a standout season thus far in 2023 for Triple-A Syracuse. In 115 games for the Mets' top farm club, he's slashed .295/.349/.511 with 23 home runs, 30 doubles, and 24 stolen bases. While he's spent the large majority of his time in the middle infield, this season he's also seen defensive innings in left field. For his career, he owns a slash line of .269/.312/.444 across parts of five MLB seasons. Coming into the 2022 season, Mauricio was a consensus top-100 overall prospect.
Our own R.J. Anderson recently highlighted Mauricio as a potential September call-up. Here's what he wrote:
"Mauricio is a switch hitter who can impact the baseball, albeit often at single-digit launch angles. He has an incredibly aggressive approach as a right-hander, and he's probably more of a second baseman/left fielder in The Show. That's fine. Have you seen some of the lineups the Mets have trotted out there since the deadline? There's no argument against bringing up Mauricio and letting him audition over the coming weeks for a spot on next year's team."
Indeed, the Mets, at a disappointing 61-73 on the season and far back in the NL wild-card race, have little reason not to structure their roster in a way that gives them insight into 2024 and beyond. That's what they'll do with Mauricio, whose power potential will make him one to watch over the final month of the regular season.