One of the things 2025 has shown New York Mets fans is that they have a plethora of young infield talent. Guys like Mark Vientos and Brett Baty have proven to be reliable everyday players, and Luisangel Acuña is a reliable bench guy (who you can argue should be an everyday starter). This does not even include top prospects like Jett Williams, Ryan Clifford, and Jesus Baez.

However, a former Mets top prospect has reemerged as another potential infield option. Ronny Mauricio is currently on a rehab assignment after tearing his ACL in December of 2023 and is turning heads in Syracuse – so much so that he won the Triple-A insurance Player of the Week award for his performance this past week. Here is how Mauricio has been playing during his rehab and where he fits on the 2025 Mets roster.

Why Ronny Mauricio desveres a spot on the Mets roster

Mauricio’s rehad assignment has gone better than everyone expected. Through 17 games across three levels of the minors, he’s slashed .316/.365/.526 with three home runs and 10 RBI. In his award-winning week, he recorded eight hits, with two home runs, two RBI, and an OPS of 1.659 through four games.

It’s also easy to forget that Mauricio was seen as an everyday starter before the 2024 season. During September of 2023, Mauricio was the main storyline for the Mets. In 26 games, he slashed .248/.296/.347 with two home runs, nine RBI, an OPS+ of 78, and a wRC+ of 79. He was seen as either the eventual everyday third baseman or designated hitter before tearing his ACL.

While those numbers do not jump off the page, that downturn was due to him hitting a slump in the final nine games of 2023. At one point, he had a slash line of .308/.345/.404. A big reason for his success was how hard he hit the baseball. According to Baseball Savant, he had a hard-hit percentage of 38.6% and a max exit velocity of 117.3 mph, which was in the top one percent among MLB hitters.

While Mauricio still needs a little more time to be big league ready, this performance most likely earned him a call-up. Due to this, the Mets will have to send someone down to the minors. The most likely candidate is Jared Young, as he has two minor-league options remaining. However, there are a couple of alternative players who could be sent down.

Acuña could be someone that the Mets decided to send down to make room for Mauricio. While Acuña has the talent to be an everyday starter, he has seen a reduced role over the past few weeks. With the emergence of Baty, plus Jeff McNeil needing everyday at-bats, Acuña has primarily been a pinch runner late in games. With how much upside Acuña has, he could be sent down in order to be an everyday starter.

Starling Marte is another player who could be DFA’d to make room for Mauricio. However, that will involve the Mets buying him out and having to eat the remainder of his contract, which makes it seem unlikely. Regardless of how the Mets do it, Mauricio has to be called up as soon, as he’s ready.