Switch hitters who can handle themselves well against right-handed pitchers can survive in a regular role. Somehow, despite being a decent left-handed hitter, the New York Mets haven’t shown a hint of faith in Ronny Mauricio. Brett Baty is getting all of the starts instead of Mauricio. With Jeff McNeil also needing regular playing time and Cedric Mullins around, Mauricio has been more of a left-handed bat available off the bench often going unused.
Mauricio has hit .273/.333/.471 with all 6 of his homers this year against righties. Just 3 hits, all singles, in 37 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers has Mauricio unavailable against those arms.
It comes down to a few things with Mauricio. Easily beatable by an opposing team’s bullpen and not so productive in August when he did get some chances to play, the Mets continue to view Mauricio as a work in progress.
Ronny Mauricio has been iced by the Mets for almost two weeks
The last time Mauricio started a game was on August 24. Before that, it was August 16. He has only been used late in blowout wins lately. The Mets haven’t had so much as a mild temptation to put him in the lineup.
The thought of putting him in the minor leagues to keep him playing isn’t as important to them as it is to keep his final minor league option. Mauricio already spent 17 days in the minors (outside of his rehab) giving him only 2 more days before his final minor league option is used up. It’s important to keep this because it’ll allow them to move him to Triple-A at the start of next year or add some trade value on him for the offseason.
Everything seemed to change for Mauricio after the trade deadline when Mullins came in. It meant less McNeil in center field. Mauricio was batting .252/.317/.461 after their game on July 28. He was playing regularly, but a red hot Mark Vientos arrived and the Mets just couldn’t find a reason to not play him.
Mauricio is still not the “odd man out” among the young infielders we’ve seen on the roster. Luisangel Acuna, who spent more than 20 days in the minor leagues this year, will be on the trade block. There’s always a chance he sticks with the club as their 26th man for some speed to begin the year. But as far as regular playing time goes, it just isn’t going to happen. The ceiling on his power doesn’t even require a child’s size stepstool with 0 home runs in the majors or minors this year.
All hope isn’t lost for Mauricio. By keeping him around, and not playing him, the Mets are showing a roundabout way of committing to him. At the very least, he’s their top minor league trade chip they apparently didn’t feel should get moved a few weeks ago when they had the opportunity. In either case, they don’t view him as a major league player right now.
