Photo by Ed Delany, MMO
Back in 2017, the New York Mets gave Ronny Mauricio a $2.1 million signing bonus. At the time, it eclipsed the $1.75 million given to Amed Rosario as the largest signing bonus given to an international free agent in team history. That should give fans an indication on just how high the Mets were on Mauricio.
Seeing the scouting reports, you could understand why.
Before he even played a game Baseball America ranked him as the Mets 11th best prospect saying, “Mauricio could develop into a power-hitting shortstop with the fluid actions to stick there.”
MLB Pipeline rated him 19th saying, “There’s a lot to like about Mauricio’s long, lean and athletic frame, with tons of physical projection to come.”
Seeing how high everyone seemed to be on him, it should come as little surprise the Mets were aggressive with him. Not only would he begin his professional career stateside, he’d start it with with a 20 game hitting streak. After his first hitless game, he responded by going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Not too long thereafter, he was promoted to Kingsport yo help that team with their playoff run. 4-for-14 with two runs, a double, and a walk. Overall, on the season, he hit .273/.304/.410 with 16 doubles, three triples, three homers, and 35 RBI in 57 games.
Seeing how well he played in his first year, the Mets were aggressive with him against promoting him to a full season affiliate. As we saw yesterday, Mauricio was once again up to the task:
One day after turning 18, #Mets top SS prospect Ronny Mauricio has his first hit in full-season ball: pic.twitter.com/seZwCu4j4N
— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) April 5, 2019
This particular single came against Yankees prospect Matt Sauer. Sauer is rated as the Yankees 17th best prospect by MLB Pipeline and the team’s 10th best prospect by Baseball America.
Mauricio would prove to be the better prospect yesterday going 2-for-2 against Sauer. Overall, Mauricio was 2-for-2 with a walk and a HBP. Seeing him play like that, it’s easy to forget he just turned 18 on Thursday and that he’s 3.4 years younger than his current competition down in the South Atlantic League.
