Ronny Mauricio took a bat that had sizzled in the Dominican Winter League and carried it over to spring training, where he blasted four home runs in just 33 at-bats.
The young Mets infielder rode that momentum to Triple-A Syracuse, where he has destroyed pitching for the first month of the season.
For several months now, Mauricio has refused to cool off. It is not his bat or his diversified glove that has impressed Francisco Lindor the most, though.
“What stood out for me this past spring training was his mental growth,” Lindor said before the Mets finished a series against the Nationals with a 9-8 victory Thursday at Citi Field. “[Mauricio is now a] better hitter, better fielder, [but] his ability to adapt and to learn stuff and to stick with them, that’s what stood out to me.”
If the offense continues to slump, scoring one run in the first two games against Washington, the Mets would have to ponder whether they have seen enough from Mauricio to want to see him in the majors.
Mauricio himself likely believes his time is approaching, posting a photograph of himself on Instagram this week with the caption, “Coming soon.”
The club has begun moving Mauricio around defensively to create a path toward Queens.
The 22-year-old has gone through the minor leagues as a shortstop, and, as manager Buck Showalter said, “He’s smart enough to know who’s playing shortstop here.”
With Lindor entrenched at the spot, Mauricio had played five games over the past week at second base.
“If that’s his path to the big leagues, put your head down and grind and make it up here,” Lindor said.
The experiment began last Friday, and the Mets expect Mauricio to see time at other positions, including the outfield, as well.
As a shortstop, Mauricio has been well-regarded for a strong arm.
“It’s going well,” Showalter said of Mauricio’s second-base work. “I know that he’s extremely agreeable to it. He just wants to play.
“He’s open to anything and everything that might make him more of an option to play in the big leagues one day.”
The Mets would be open to calling Mauricio up if his bat stays hot, having hit .345 with six home runs and a 1.042 OPS in his first 23 games with Syracuse.
The longtime critique of Mauricio’s game is still apparent — too many strikeouts (20 in his first 93 plate appearances) and not enough walks (four entering Syracuse’s game Thursday) — but his contact has been loud.
If second base becomes his ticket to the majors, the switch hitter could push Jeff McNeil to left field and take some at-bats that have been earmarked for Luis Guillorme.
“I’m super pumped for the day he gets here. He’s going to help us,” Lindor said of Mauricio. “He’s going to bring a sense of electricity, like the way [Brett] Baty and [Francisco] Alvarez did.”
Lindor has seen Mauricio for parts of three spring trainings and has taken countless ground balls alongside a prospect whom he is blocking.
This spring, Lindor said, he noticed that the Dominican Republic native listened to anything that was said and absorbed everything, trying to apply any direction he received.
“You tell him what you’re thinking, and he could take that and run with it,” Lindor said. “[Mauricio has] grown enough to not bounce mentally.”
If his mind has developed, his swing has, too. The Mets, already playing two top prospects frequently in Baty and Alvarez, could look for more young, high-ceiling help if the offense does not take off.
Which would likely mean a veteran sees less time.
For the Mets to call up Mauricio any time soon, his bat and a flexible glove would have to force the club’s hand.
“We also have a good second baseman — two of them,” Showalter said of McNeil and Guillorme. “Anything that increases [Mauricio’s] versatility is always a feather in his hat.”
