Should The Mets Call Up Ronny Mauricio?
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After a successful regular season last year, the New York Mets have struggled to find their footing so far this season, sitting in fourth place in the division at 33-36, way behind the Braves and also out of a wild card spot. Most of the team's struggles have come down to subpar pitching in both the rotation and the bullpen and the bottom of the lineup not producing.
The Mets have tried to spark the offense by giving their top offensive prospects some playing time as Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, and Mark Vientos have been in New York for a while. Alvarez has been solid so far at the MLB level while Baty and Vientos have also shown flashes of greatness. However, there is still one more top hitting prospect in Triple-A right now, Ronny Mauricio.
Mauricio is a 22-year-old shortstop and he was originally signed by the Mets back in 2017. Over time, Mauricio kept making his way through the minor league system and quickly became a top prospect in the Mets system. This year with Syracuse, he has a batting average of .318 with an OPS just under .900 so Mets fans have been hoping that he gets the call to the majors sooner rather than later.
If Mauricio gets called up, I think he will get more playing time at second base since he has been playing both at second base and shortstop this year in Triple-A and Francisco Lindor is clearly an everyday player for the Mets. The most logical option to get Mauricio in the starting lineup would be to play him at second and move Jeff McNeil to third base or the outfield and maybe look to trade a veteran like Eduardo Escobar if Mauricio succeeds at the MLB level right away.
Although Mauricio is having a good year in Syracuse, he has struggled in the month of June as he has put up a batting average just under .200 and he has only hit three home runs since May 13th. It might make more sense for the Mets to wait until he gets hot again before giving him a promotion to the MLB so I would not expect to see Mauricio in a New York Mets uniform until at least July. Whether he gets called up tomorrow or a month from now, Ronny Mauricio should help bolster the lineup for years to come in Queens.
