Despite the impressive power numbers during the regular season and the strong overall performance in the Dominican Winter League, Mets prospect Ronny Mauricio still hasn’t answered the most important question about his offense of whether he’s going to improve his swing decisions.
Mauricio had a sub .300 OBP in 2021 and then again in 2022 with his highest walk rate between the two years being 5.7% in 2021. During his LIDOM MVP campaign this offseason, Mauricio’s walk rate was only 4.9%. Though, the 21-year-old has consistently been one of the younger hitters in whatever league he plays in and hasn’t struck out at a higher rate recently with a 24.7 K% during the 2022 minor league season and 21.2% in the winter ball regular season.
On Wednesday night for the Tigres del Licey, Mauricio did something he rarely ever does, he walked. And then he walked again in his second plate appearance of the night, giving him an ultra-rare two-walk game. Both walks came against veteran Yunesky Maya that’s known for his control having walked only 2.7 per nine innings this season.
A two-walk game for the young switch-hitter occurred only once during the minor league season in 2022. Mauricio also singled and stole a base in the game after going 3-for-3 with a walk on Tuesday night. Three walks in a two-game span are again something that happened only once during the season for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies.
Mauricio is now hitting .304/.360/.413 with four extra-base hits and an 8% walk rate in 50 plate appearances spanning 11 playoff games. Mauricio played third base on Wednesday and has also played some second base in winter ball, though the majority of his time on defense has still been spent at shortstop.
