Ronny Mauricio, doubling in first at-bat, goes 2-for-3 in Mets' win
Ronny Mauricio of the Mets follows through on his third-inning double against the Mariners at Citi Field on Friday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
It was the fifth inning and standing on second base, Ronny Mauricio was not sure if he was living his dream or if he was in a dream state.
And a moment later, a satisfying realization struck the highly-touted prospect.
“Once it set in, it just kind of validated all that hard work that we all put in to try to get here,” Mauricio said through a translator after the Mets’ 2-1 series-opening win against the AL West-leading Mariners in front of 33,340 Friday night at Citi Field.
Mauricio was called up from Triple-A Syracuse before the game, along with third baseman Brett Baty and right-handed pitcher Jose Butto. Infielder Danny Mendick was sent down to Syracuse in the corresponding roster move.
Both Baty and Mauricio were in the lineup against Seattle. Baty hit eighth, followed by Mauricio, who played second base.
According to Mauricio and Baty, the trio found out after Syracuse’s 5-3 loss to Lehigh Valley that they were being called up. Syracuse manager Dick Scott told the team Butto and Baty were being called up before casually mentioning Mauricio would join them.
“Everybody got pretty pumped up for him,” Baty said prior to the game. “He’s put in all the work and he’s earned it.”
It is a merit-based promotion for Mauricio, who led all organization minor leaguers in batting average (.292), RBIs (71), runs (76), slugging (.506), hits (143), doubles (30), extra-base hits (56) and total bases (248).
Which is why fans had been pleading with the organization to call up the 22-year-old for months.
And for at least one night lived up to their expectations, finishing 2-for-3, including smashing a 117.3 MPH double over the head of Mariners rightfielder Teoscar Hernandez for his first major league hit to lead off the third. It was the hardest hit ball by any Met this season.
“It’s incredible, honestly,” Mauricio said. “It’s the first ball I hit at 117 [MPH] and it happened at that moment.”
Baty went 1-for-3.
As eye-popping as the offensive numbers at Syracuse were, Buck Showalter was more interested in seeing how Mauricio – and Baty – play the field.
“That’s what’s going to keep them up here,” Showalter said during his pregame availability. “Can you defend while we’re waiting for you to figure out the offensive side of it? That’s the difference.”
Baty struggled offensively and defensively in 86 games with the Mets earlier in the season before being optioned to Syracuse on Aug. 7, hitting only .216 with seven home runs and 27 RBIs, and committed nine errors.
In 69 at-bats with Syracuse before the call-up, Baty was hitting .246 with five home runs, 11 runs scored, and 16 RBIs.
“Just got to go down there and work on some things,” Baty said. “Get back to being who I am.”
While it’s more likely than not that Baty will see a majority of playing time at third, Showalter will have the opportunity to experiment with Mauricio, who can play second and the outfield.
“We’ll see what [Saturday] brings,” Showalter said, when asked how he plans to play Mauricio in the field. “Take it day-by-day.”
Why day-by-day?
“I’m sure he’s been energized by [the callup] and we’ll see if that levels out a little bit,” Showalter said. “We saw that a lot with Brett and Francisco and Vientos. As soon as some of the clamor dies down, you kind of get an idea of what you might have.”
Daniel Vogelbach broke a 1-1 tie with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the eighth off of Andres Munoz to give the Mets (62-73) their second straight win.
Phil Bickford (4-4) was credited with the win, and Drew Smith recorded his third save of the season. Starter Kodai Senga (10-7) allowed one run on five hits in seven innings and tied a season high with 12 strikeouts.
Brandon Nimmo hit his 20th home run of the season in the sixth.
