This is the second year where we are walking through the previous season’s Baseball America’s Top Prospect handbook, looking at the all the Mets to see how they are developing against Baseball America’s Projections.
In 2019 Ronny Mauricio was the #3 prospect in the Mets system according to Baseball America. Ahead of him was Pete Alonso at #2, the reigning rookie of the year, and Andres Gimenez, who is way closer to the majors than Ronny. That being said, going into this season, Ronny is the most exciting prospect in the Mets system.
When the Mets signed him to a 2.1 million dollar contract in 2017, he was the third best international prospect. He made a strong debut in 2018 at 17 years old in the Gulf Coast and Kingsport. BA wrote that “Mauricio has all the attributes to develop a plus bat with plus power. Both his hand speed and bat speed stand out…” BA went on to give him a 70 grade arm, keeping him at short. They predicted that he would go to Columbia and he projects as a first-division regular at either short or third.
2018 Gulf Coast: 212 PA, 197 AB, .279/.307/.421
2018 Kingsport: 35 PA, 30 AB, .233/.286/.333
2019 Columbia: 504 PA, 470 AB, .268/.307/.357
Mauricio put up those numbers last year at 18 years old, 3.5 years below the average in the league and he only had 8 games in Kingsport the previous year. He essentially skipped the more rigorous of the Rookie leagues and skipped Brooklyn at all, which if it wasn’t for the talent he showed in 2018, probably would have been his next stop. He’s on his way to high A ball. He’s still growing and is developing into the Mets most exciting prospect. We cannot wait for his 2020.
