No. 11 Ronny Mauricio, INF

B/T: S/R Age: 23 (4/4/2001)

Ht: 6’3″ Wt: 166

Acquired: Signed for $2.1 million as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic in 2017

ETA: 2025

2023 Stats: (Missed 2024 with injury) Mets: .248/.296/.347/.643, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 7 SB, 7 BB, 31 SO, 108 PA

Triple-A Syracuse: .292/.346/.506/.852, 23 HR, 71 RBI, 24 SB, 35 BB, 97 SO, 532 PA

Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Overview

The long road back from injury is (fingers crossed) nearly over for Ronny Mauricio, once one of the organization’s top prospects who tore the ACL in his right knee running the bases in a Dominican Winter League game in December 2023. While recovering, the infielder suffered a setback and underwent arthroscopic surgery last August to remove scar tissue from the knee.

“It’s been a long time,” he told MLB.com last month through a Spanish interpreter. “I do finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m very excited for that moment when I’m able to come back.”

An international free agent signee out of the Dominican Republic in 2017, Mauricio has hit .268/.311/.443 to go with 76 home runs, 296 RBIs and 63 stolen bases in 520 career games as a minor leaguer for New York.

He showed a glimpse of his upside when he debuted as a 22-year-old in 26 games with the Mets in 2023. Mauricio stole seven bases, hit two homers, tripled once and smacked nine doubles, one of which clocked in with an eye-popping exit velocity of 117.3 mph. Only seven balls had a higher EV in 2024, and Pete Alonso had the hardest hit ball by a Met last year at 116.3 mph.

Last month, manager Carlos Mendoza said he was hoping for Mauricio to make his spring training debut in mid-March.

“Right now he’s trending in the right direction and we want to keep it that way,” Mendoza said. “So he’s taking ground balls. He’s taking BP outside.”

The Athletic’s Keith Law is high on Mauricio, but thinks he needs more seasoning.

“He’s just way too aggressive at the plate,” Law wrote last month. “Chasing off-speed stuff out of the zone at a rate that’s not going to be sustainable for a major-league regular – which is why the loss of a year-plus of plate appearances was so damaging for him, as he needs to work on ball/strike and pitch recognition, and the best way to do that is by playing.”

Mauricio reminds Law of Alfonso Soriano, a free swinger who hit 412 home runs and slashed .270/.319/.500 over a 16-year career.

“That’s a best-case scenario for Mauricio, and probably more unlikely after the injury,” Law wrote. “We’ll have to see where he is on his return, what he’s swinging (or not swinging) at, and how he moves in the field.”

2025 Outlook

Mauricio is expected to start the year at Triple-A Syracuse, but should earn a major league promotion at some point this season. Mets radio broadcaster Keith Raad stated that he thinks Mauricio is a part of the future on SNY’s Baseball Night in New York last month.

“I think he has the attitude of where (Mark) Vientos was last year, which was: ‘I feel like the Mets haven’t called me up enough when I was ready a few years ago.’ He gets hurt, he’s still knocking on the door, and he’s got that hunger, which is really important for a young player,” Raad said.

Mauricio told MLB.com: “I do think that I’m going to come back better, God willing.”