Ronny Mauricio/Photo by Ed Delany, MMN

To aid in their playoff push over the final ten days of the regular season, Mets top prospects Ronny Mauricio and Simeon Woods-Richardson have received promotions to Kingsport, MMN has learned.

At 29-29, the K-Mets hold a one-game lead on the Bristol Pirates for the second and final spot in the Appalachian League West division playoff race. Six of Kingsport’s final ten games will be played at home, where the team has gone 16-12 this season.

Mauricio, 17, earned a franchise-record $2.1 million signing bonus in July of 2017 and made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast League Mets in June. The switch-hitting shortstop got off to a torrid start to his career, hitting .322 with 18 extra-base hits through the end of July. He’ll join a Kingsport infield that features standout performers Mark Vientos, Shervyen Newton, and Luis Santana.

Woods-Richardson, 18 in September, was the organization’s second-round draft selection this past June. After graduating from Kempner High School in Sugar Land, TX, he joined the GCL team, where he made five appearances (two starts). The 6’3″ right-hander totaled 11.1 innings, allowing no earned runs while striking out 15 batters and walking four. According to eyewitness reports, Woods-Richardson touched the upper 90s on the radar gun during his first few outings.

Kingsport now boasts six of the organization’s top 16 prospects, according to MMN’s midseason top 50 list, including 2018 first-round pick Jarred Kelenic (2), Mauricio (5), Vientos (7), Woods-Richardson (12), Santana (15), and Newton (16).