After tearing up Triple-A to end his rehab assignment, infielder Ronny Mauricio struggled mightily to begin his stint with the New York Mets after his call-up.
The 24-year-old began his 2025 season in the big leagues 0-for-11, before he hit a double, that narrowly missed exiting the elevated Coors Field, in his final at-bat in Friday’s game. Mauricio built on that 104.5 mph double from Friday’s game, which would have been a home run in the 29 other major-league ballpark, by turning in an excellent game on Saturday.
Mauricio came to the plate for the first time in the game’s third inning, and launched his first major-league home run since September 24, 2023. The rocket of a homer came off the bat at 110.3 mph and went a staggering 456 feet into the second deck in right at Coors Field. Mauricio followed that up with a hard-hit single at 99.7 mph in his second at-bat. He stole second base before coming home via a Brandon Nimmo single.
Mauricio went hitless the remainder of the game, despite a 94.4 mph line out to the gap in the eighth inning, but flashed how electric his bat can truly be throughout the night. Defensively, he made a few plays, but was notably charged with a tough error on a ball hit right along the line.
This is all very encouraging for the Dominican Republic native, who was regarded as a top prospect in the system prior to his knee injury suffered Dominican Winter League. Mauricio had himself a big season in 2023, where he posted a .292/.346/.506 slash line (.852 OPS) with Triple-A Syracuse and was subsequently rewarded with a call-up where he made his major-league debut.
He did struggle to end the season, in his first big league appearances, posting an .643 OPS across 101 at-bats. Mauricio did respond well in the offseason program, as he had a 1.178 OPS in 34 at-bats, before injuring his knee in the Dominican Winter League, as mentioned above.
After a long and tedious rehab, Mauricio appeared in a professional game for the first time in over a year-and-a-half for Single-A St. Lucie on April 27. Interestingly, he struggled in his rehab appearances at the Single-A and Double-A levels (3-for-32) before erupting with Triple-A Syracuse. Across 33 at-bats with Syracuse, prior to his recall, he slashed .515/.564/.818 (1.382 OPS) with three homers and four stolen bases showing he was more than ready for another showcase with the big club.
The Mets are at an interesting point with several of their young players that have come to the big leagues over the last couple seasons. Each of Francisco Alvarez, Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, Luisangel Acuña, and now Mauricio, have made debuts. It will certainly be interesting to see how the young Mauricio compares to the rest as the season goes on.
