Photo by Rick Nelson

New York Mets prospect Ronny Mauricio has opened eyes this offseason with his play in the Dominican Winter League and that continued on Wednesday night when he hit a long two-run homer in the first inning of a Tigres del Licey 10-2 win over the Aguilas Cibaenas. The calls for the 21-year-old to win the MVP Award keep getting louder in the Dominican.

  • 3B Ronny Mauricio 1-for-3, HR (5th), 2 RBI, BB, .311/.356/.518

The other good sign from Wednesday night was Mauricio taking a walk, just his ninth in 41 games and a very similar pace to the 24 walks he had in 121 games in Double-A this season.

Mauricio –still playing third base on a nightly basis– is now second in the league with five home runs, leads the league with 31 RBIs (second has 20), and has the top OPS at .874 among qualified hitters.

Mauricio now has 15 doubles, two triples, and five home runs in 41 games. That’s after setting a career-high in extra-base hits during the regular season when he had 26 doubles, two triples, and 26 home runs in 123 games for Binghamton.

If the Mets decide to hold onto Mauricio through the offseason, it will be interesting to see what position they have him working on during spring training. His recent run at third base came at the request of the Tigres del Licey and is his first time playing a position other than shortstop.