Ronny Maurico on left, Francisco Lindor on right, Photo by Mets

Consensus top 100 prospect Ronny Mauricio, 19, is listed at 166 pounds. He’s certainly much heavier than that now, coming into spring training having added noticeable mass to his lanky 6 feet 3 inch frame.

Switch hitting shortstops at Mauricio’s size are very rare, which is part of what makes him such an exciting prospect. With his changing physique and losing a season’s worth of games last year due to the pandemic, it’s fair to question whether Mauricio will be able to stick at shortstop long term. His strong all-around performances in Thursday’s 8-4 win over the Nationals and Saturday’s 6-1 win over the Astros provided reasons for optimism regarding his future. 

On Thursday, Mauricio replaced Luis Guillorme at shortstop at the start of the sixth inning and was involved in four defensive plays. Trevor May allowed a leadoff baserunner in the sixth and Nationals pinch runner Yasel Antuna then stole second base on a down and in slider. Catcher James McCann threw from his knees and Mauricio covered the bag, opting for a swipe tag. He dropped the ball but the rushed throw was late and it didn’t appear as though the tag would have been in time even if he had caught it cleanly.

Start your morning off by watching Mets prospect Ronny Mauricio do work.

Still only 19.

pic.twitter.com/hDvQroLDox

— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) March 5, 2021

After Antuna advanced to third base on a groundout, the infield was moved in to the edge of the grass with one out. Carter Kieboom hit a sharp ground ball directly at the drawn in Mauricio, who fielded it cleanly and threw an accurate strike home, nabbing Antuna in a perfectly executed rundown.

Mauricio’s next defensive opportunity came in the top of the seventh. With the bases loaded and one out, Cody Wilson hit a ground ball up the middle. Mauricio glided to his left, fielded it cleanly with one hand, stepped on second and in the same motion made another strong, accurate throw to first for a smooth 6-3 double play.

Mauricio’s toughest defensive chance came with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. Jordy Mercer hit a slow two-hopper deep in the hole at short. Mauricio fielded the ball with his right foot on the edge of the outfield grass, took one step toward first, and threw it approximately 10-15 feet short of first base. First baseman Jake Hager wasn’t able to scoop the long hop but it was a play that most major league first basemen make and Mercer definitely would have been out if the throw had been fielded cleanly. Mauricio also had two more defensive chances on Saturday. He first was charged with a throwing error that Astros radio broadcasters think may have been the result of a rushed throw forced by the speedy Pedro Leon and then caught a routine pop-up.

Offensively, Mauricio batted twice on Thursday, seeing six pitches total and batting once from each side of the plate. His first at-bat was as a left handed hitter in the bottom of the sixth inning. After taking a first pitch fastball just outside for a ball, he lined a low breaking ball into right field for a single. The pitch would have been a ball had he not swung. He bent his back leg so low that his knee almost touched the ground but he was able to keep his hands back long enough to make solid contact.

Ronny Mauricio's RBI single drives home Pete Crow-Armstrong! pic.twitter.com/DW489gc2Q7

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 6, 2021

In his next at-bat, this time as a right-handed hitter, he took two fastballs off the plate to work the count to 2-0. After fouling off another fastball, he hit a slow grounder to shortstop for a fielder’s choice out. He batted right-handed again in his lone at-bat on Saturday, lining an RBI single to right field after falling behind in the count 0-2. One would hope that Mauricio’s new frame will lead to an increase in power.

He has walked in only 5.1% of his professional plate appearances, so his approach and power output are among the things to monitor going forward but it has been nice to see him have some early success in his first major league spring training.