The Mets are calling infielder Ronny Mauricio back up to the majors for what’ll be his first MLB action since 2023, as first reported by Mike Rodriguez. Mauricio missed the entire 2024 season after suffering an ACL tear during winter ball in the 2023-24 offseason and began the 2025 season on the injured list as he finished up his rehab from the resulting knee surgery.
Mauricio’s return to the big leagues dovetails with a potential injury for third baseman/designated hitter Mark Vientos, who left last night’s game with discomfort in his hamstring after running out a grounder in the 10th inning. Skipper Carlos Mendoza noted after the game that it “didn’t look good” for Vientos following that exit and added that the slugger went straight to have imaging performed. The results of that MRI haven’t yet been shared publicly, but Mauricio traveling to Los Angeles to meet the Mets certainly seems to suggest an IL stint for Vientos could be forthcoming.
Still just 24 years old, Mauricio has ranked among the Mets’ top prospects for upwards of six years now. Originally signed out of his native Dominican Republic eight years ago, he’s had a relatively slow climb to the majors — granted, in large part due to that injury — but now looks poised for an opportunity of some note. He received a 26-game cup of coffee late in the 2023 season and batted .248/.296/.347 in his first 108 MLB plate appearances. Were it not for last year’s knee injury, Mauricio very likely would’ve gotten a larger opportunity in 2024.
The question of how to juggle playing time and opportunities for the promising young infield group of Mauricio, Vientos, Brett Baty and Luisangel Acuña has loomed over the Mets for some time, but that quartet has never been healthy enough simultaneously to force the issue. Early this season, Baty increasingly looked to be the odd man out, but he shook off a slow start and has been hitting well enough to cut into Vientos’ time at third base. After collecting only three hits in his first 10 games of the season, Baty has tallied 101 plate appearances with a hearty .280/.330/.548 slash (146 wRC+). He’s homered six times and added three doubles, two triples and a pair of stolen bases along the way.
As Baty’s bat heated up, both Vientos and Acuña cooled. Acuña’s month of May was even rougher than Baty’s first week-plus; he hit .204/.252/.222 last month and is hitless in three plate appearances since the calendar turned to June. Vientos, meanwhile, carried above-average production at the plate into mid-May, but he’s batted just .191/.250/.298 in his past 52 turns at the dish. All the while as that balance of playing time shifted in the majors, Mauricio was reacclimating to the rigors of pro ball and readying for another opportunity — one that now looks to have presented itself.
Mauricio posted an awful .125/.176/.188 line with a 35.3% strikeout rate in his first 10 games back from the injured list, which were split between Class-A and Double-A. With his rehab complete, the Mets unsurprisingly optioned him to Triple-A rather than call him up after that performance in the lower minors. A return to Triple-A Syracuse coincided with a return to form at the plate. Mauricio has played in nine Triple-A games and collected multiple hits in seven of them. He’s ripped three homers and a double, all while drawing the same number of walks as strikeouts (five) in 39 plate appearances.
The Mets would probably have preferred to see Mauricio draw out this hot streak a bit longer — both given the extent of his initial struggles in the low minors and because he’s yet to play on three consecutive days at any point in his return to action. He’s only played on consecutive days six times since his return to the field on April 27. The Vientos injury likely forced the Mets’ hand, however. Mauricio may end up in a limited role early on, sharing time at third base with Baty, at second base with Acuña and Jeff McNeil, and at DH with Starling Marte.