Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
Mets prospects Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio have been two of their best players so far his spring and that continued on Thursday in New York’s 6-4 loss in an exhibition with Team Venezuela.
Mauricio had two hits in the game including a double and a run scored as the starting shortstop, a role he could play frequently with Francisco Lindor joining Team Puerto Rico for the World Baseball Classic. The 21-year-old Mauricio also had the Mets’ lone hit on Wednesday when they lost 2-0 in their exhibition game against Nicaragua.
During regular spring games, Mauricio is 6-for-15 with a double, three home runs, and seven RBIs. He’s walked once and struck out twice. To this point, Mauricio has still only played shortstop in the Mets organization, but did play a little bit of third base and second base during his Dominican Winter League MVP campaign.
The 23-year-old Baty went 1-for-2 with an RBI and run scored as he continues to make the Mets wonder if he should be the starting third baseman on Opening Day. Baty came into the game hitting .474/.524/.684 with a double, home run, and a stolen base in 21 Grapefruit League plate appearances.
Mets bench coach Eric Chavez recently talked to the New York Post about his experience thus far with Baty and the overall sentiment was that the former Gold Glover thought Brett was going to continue to improve defensively.
Of note in the game that pertains to the Mets’ third base position, veteran Eduardo Escobar started the game vs. the Mets for Venezuela, though he finished the game with three defensive innings in left field.
