Mets' Ronny Mauricio has second surgery on right knee
Mets shortstop Ronny Mauricio seein here in 2023. Credit: Jim McIsaac
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Whatever hope still existed that Ronny Mauricio had a slim shot at playing this season officially is gone.
Mauricio had a second surgery on his right knee this week, the Mets announced Friday, an arthroscopic procedure to remove scar tissue. That was a ripple effect of his original injury in December, an anterior cruciate ligament tear suffered while playing in the Dominican Winter League.
The Mets said in a statement that Mauricio “remains on pace to be back to competition this offseason” and will continue his rehabilitation “as tolerated.” It’s possible that he will play in the Arizona Fall League or in the Dominican if he is healthy and he and the team want him to get back on the field.
“Obviously, not the news that you want,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But that’s part of the rehab process, I guess. He’ll be back. It’s just a little bit of a setback here. But he’ll be back.”
For Mauricio, 23, missing the entire season is a huge missed opportunity.
At the start of last offseason, he figured prominently in the Mets’ plans at some combination of third base, second base and designated hitter. His injury altered their approach to building the 2024 roster (contributing to their eventual signing of J.D. Martinez to be the full-time DH).
In a world in which Mauricio never blew out his knee, he very likely would have received a significant chance in the majors by now. Instead, he is limited to rehabbing and periodic Citi Field check-ins, including in recent days.
“Fine. Fine. He’s fine,” Mendoza said. “He’s a young player, obviously frustrated. But he understands. Like I said, a bump in the road. He’ll be fine.”
During spring training, Mauricio tried to find the upside of not being able to play.
“I wouldn’t say it was technically a good thing that happened, but it’s definitely something where I can kind of sit down and kind of reflect,” he said through an interpreter during camp. “Just to continue growing as a player, continue to watch more and more.”
Almost a homecoming
At the start of the week, Tylor Megill was lined up to start Friday against the Angels, his hometown team while growing up in Orange County.
But then the Mets acquired righthander Paul Blackburn from the Athletics, so they briefly moved Megill to the bullpen. Then they sent him to Triple-A Syracuse on Friday to clear a roster spot for Blackburn, who made his team debut.
So instead of a homecoming, Megill got a demotion.
The Mets will roll with a five-man rotation “as of right now,” Mendoza said.
“Nobody wants to go down to the minors, right?” he said. “But he understands. We made a move. We gotta keep him stretched out. Just continue to build on some of the things he was doing well here, some of the pitches he was working on. Nobody wants to go down, but he was fine.”
Megill’s only career game at Angel Stadium came in 2022, when he pitched 3 1/3 innings in his return from a shoulder injury.
Nimmo good to go
Brandon Nimmo was back in the lineup — playing leftfield and batting second, as usual — after fouling a pitch off his left foot Wednesday.
That was the second painful foul tip to his left leg in several days. He also got his knee recently.
“All good,” Nimmo said. “We’re good to go.”
Whoa, Sproat
Mets pitching prospect Brandon Sproat struck out 11 consecutive batters to finish his start with Double-A Binghamton on Friday night. He had 13 strikeouts out of 15 outs and allowed two hits and no walks in five innings. Sproat has a 2.45 ERA in 11 starts with Binghamton.
Extra bases
Luisangel Acuna missed a second straight game with Syracuse because of a sore foot . . . Friday marked the start of a month in which the Mets will play more games on Pacific Daylight Time (10) than on Eastern Daylight Time (nine). Mendoza said he thinks people are “making too much out of” the Mets’ harder-than-usual logistics. “It’s part of what we do,” he said . . . Reed Garrett (right elbow nerve inflammation) is due to make a rehab appearance with Double-A Binghamton on Saturday. He hopes to join the team shortly thereafter, perhaps Monday in St. Louis . . . The Mets sent catcher Logan Porter, who recently was designated for assignment, to Syracuse.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
