As many people will know, the Mets signed Ronny Mauricio to the largest international bonus in club history. This bonus surpassed the one paid for former Uber Prospect, Amed Rosario. The switch hitting shortstop is rail skinny and tall, at 6’3” 166 Lbs but he’s started his major league career, at the age of 17, with a 6 game hitting streak.
The Mets opted to challenge Mauricio in his first taste of the majors by skipping the international player past the DSL (Dominican Summer League) and giving him a shot in the GCL (Gulf Coast League) instead. Most players in the GCL range between 19-21 years of age and Mauricio will not be 18 years old until April of 2019.
This aggressive assignment might have been a mistake with the Mets basically dropping a prospect in the deep end and asking him to swim, but Mauricio has taken it in stride. In his 6 game debut he’s amassed 22 at bats, 8 hits, 3 doubles and a home run. He’s been batting second in the order in front of, Top Draft Pick, Jarred Kelenic and, fellow international signee, Stanley Consuegra.
The blemish on this debut is the 7 strikeouts and goose eggs for both walks and stolen bases but there is more than enough good to make up for that. All and all, Mauricio is firmly in the Met’s organizational Top 10 with his sights on the Top 5 if he keeps this up next year.
AAA:
Jeff McNeil asks, “Why not 2018?” – The case can be made that McNeil has proven that his bat is still hot and up to the task of AAA. Could be that the Mets give him a look if they make any more room in the majors.
Peter Alonso’s Big Day – 6/23/18 is a date Alonso will remember as the day he hit his first AAA home run. It’s also the day he hit his second and third!
Corey Oswalt remains solid – The Mets will likely call him back to the majors eventually and when that happens Oswalt looks to be ready.
AA:
Nabil Crismatt has been great for Binghamton – He tossed a gem of an outing with 8.0 IP and 9 Ks this past week.
A+:
Is Desmond Lindsay finally hitting? – Don’t get too jubilant just yet but hitting .290 over his last 10 games is a good thing.
David Peterson hangs in there – Second outing in Advanced A and he lasts 6.1 innings.
A:
Ali Sanchez hasn’t stopped – I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop but it hasn’t happened yet.
Jeremy Vasquez is a legitimate prospect – Keep him on your radar as he makes his way to Port St. Lucie.
A-:
Chase Chambers mashing the ball – The 18th round pick from 2018 is hitting .360 with solid eye numbers and power.
Jose Miguel Medina looks like a star – This unherladed international players has been crazy good in the early going.
Wagner Lagrange has settled in – As part of a strangely potent Brooklyn lineup, it’s good to see the outfielder flourishing in Brooklyn.
R2:
Shervyen Newton is using his speed – He’s got more extra base hits than games played on this young season.
Luis Santana hitting more and more – Game 1, 1 hit, Games 2 and 3, 2 hits, game 4, 3 hits and Game 5, 4 hits.
Jose Moreno looking like an “Ace” – The brother of the Angel’s outfielder was great in his 2018 debut.
R1:
Jarred Kelenic off and running – The Mets have let their top pick start to play and the early results are great.
DSL:
Adrian Hernandez should not be forgotten – The other major signing from 2017 has looked good in his DSL debut year. He should be coming stateside in 2019.
Mauricio is off to a great start, like you note. One thing that stands out to me is that here in the early going he has a .364 AVG and a .308 OBP thanks to 0 BB and 4 SF.
Newton deserves top billing for Kingsport but two things there that I’ve found interesting is that Kenny Hernandez is playing 1B and Mark Vientos is at 3B. Hernandez hasn’t hit yet, either this year or since he signed, really. Curious that he goes to first but with the emphasis that the Mets place on signing international SS, I guess that’s the open position.
And speaking of Kingsport, early returns show another collection of good offensive stats. Through six games, the team has a .363/.435/.547 triple slash line.
Unfortunately Alonso still can’t play defense he had two errors in his three homer game and he still can’t catch pop ups, which is weird. I’m a proponent of the dh coming to the nl so might as well sooner rather than later.
There have been many players that were weak defensively but worked to improve. The other way around doesn’t happen too frequently, but a couple of Cardinals, Yadier Molina and Ozzie Smith come to mind. Strong offensive players like Jose Martinez, Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, and even Tony Gwynn can work to improve their defense. So can Alonso.
And yet, Michael Conforto was supposed to be a bad defensive OF when he was drafted. Brandom Nimmo was an awful Of when he first came up two years ago. Both have improved dramatically.
“can’t” is a strong word, and an overstatement. So he dropped one pop-up. It happens. He’s also made several nice plays since moving to Vegas. His range factor has improved, and his error rate is down. I have to ask whether you’ve actually seen him play, or at least listened to the games, rather than just read about him. Because the Peter Alonso we saw in spring training was perfectly adequate at 1B. Granted, that was spring, and the game moves faster during the regular season. But let’s keep two things in perspective: First, yes, he is a work in progress defensively. But the key word is progress, and he is progressing.
Second, except for one monster game, his bat is actually lagging somewhat in Vegas, anyway. So its not like he needs to or should be called up right now, anyway.
Editor’s Note – The reason your posts go to moderation is because of your hostility towards other posters. You may not think of yourself that way but others do and their opinion on this matter is less biased than yours, so you should listen. You have great information and should be an asset with your posts. Instead you drop the last two letters. You should be the smart kid that everyone gravitates towards because you’re cool. Instead, you’re the smart kid that everyone wants to punch in the face.
Lighten up, Francis.