Mets prospect Ronny Mauricio still has work to do defensively
Mets infielder Ronny Mauricio during a spring training workout, Tuesday Feb. 28, 2023 at Clover Field in Port St. Lucie, FL. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
DENVER — Ronny Mauricio, the only member of the Mets’ upper-minors, almost-ready-for-the-majors prospect quartet yet to be called up, still is working on his defense at second base with Triple-A Syracuse.
And that work is, well, a work in progress.
Mauricio, a lifelong shortstop, has made six errors in 24 games at his new position. He also has committed five errors in 20 games at shortstop.
So despite his torrid offensive pace — including a .349/.384/.586 slash line heading into his scheduled day off Friday — the Mets aren’t bringing him to the majors quite yet.
“I like the fact that he’s working hard at it,” manager Buck Showalter said. “I think everybody is real patient with some of the new things that’ve been thrown at him. But he’s a quick learner. He’ll figure it out . . . He’s going to be a good defender when it’s all said and done.”
Mauricio, 22, also has cut down on his strikeout rate, from 23.1% last year in Double-A to 15.6% this year at the higher level.
A looming test: Facing the same team for a second series, which will happen next week. Syracuse’s first eight series have been against eight different teams.
This season is a continuation of Mauricio’s recent sustained dominance wherever he is playing. After his fine 2022 regular season in which his power showed up in a big way for the first time, he dominated in the Dominican Winter League, then the Grapefruit League and now the International League.
“He’s handled it well,” Showalter said. “Offensively, he’s been quite a weapon down there. He’s handled that pitching pretty well.”
Extra bases
Brandon Nimmo — a native of Cheyenne, Wyoming, who counts games in Colorado as the closest thing to a major-league homecoming — estimated he’d have 100 relatives and friends come to watch him in person this weekend . . . Showalter said Mark Vientos likely will start the Mets’ next three games. Since getting called up, Vientos has been in the lineup in only four of nine games.
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.
