Photo by Ed Delany, MMN
The Mets made Ronny Mauricio their highest paid international free agent signing ($2.1 million) at the time 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 on Friday afternoon.
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.
Ronny Mauricio has his first RBI in a major league uniform. Put a nice swing on the ball, going to have a lot of power once he fills out his body. #Mets pic.twitter.com/I9qiJ7FSKt
— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) March 22, 2019
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:
The swing: pic.twitter.com/YgIiQs8obt
— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) March 22, 2019
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.
The switch-hitting shortstop (DH in this game) finished the day going 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Mauricio is the No. 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.
