Photo by Ed Delany, MMO

The Mets made Ronny Mauricio their highest paid International Free Agent signing at the time (he was since passed by Fransisco Alvarez) for a reason it would appear. The 17-year-old, soon to be 18, has gotten good reviews this spring and today, he showcased it in the major league game.

Mauricio came up with the bases loaded in the second inning and fell behind in the count early. With the pitcher ahead in the count 1-2, Mauricio managed to flick the ball into center for a sac-fly.

The result may not have seemed great but considering he was in rookie ball a summer ago, he was able to battle against a major league pitcher and managed to put a good swing on the ball.

In his second at-bat, Mauricio hit a nice single up the middle. My colleague, Jacob Resnick had the swing for that too:

Even though he was a little fooled by the changeup, he managed to stay balanced and hit it into center. His swing is short, balanced, and it will be powerful once he matures.

Mauricio is the number 3 prospect on MMO’s prospect list. Most publications have him in the Top-100 with Fangraphs going as high as 68. If you want some nice reading before sleep, read his Fangraphs profile. A quick snippet was: “A broad-shouldered but lean 6-foot-3, Mauricio looks like Manny Machado, and Hanley Ramirez, and Carlos Correa, and a host of other super talents all did at age 17.”

He will begin in Columbia this Spring and will fly up the prospect lists by July.