Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 16 seasons full-time on the beat. NEW YORK -- Earlier this week, Ronny Mauricio played in a real, affiliated baseball game for the first time in 18 months. It was a notable step forward for Mauricio, a longtime Mets prospect who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during winter ball in December 2023 and has since struggled to make it back on the field. Eight months after his initial operation, Mauricio underwent a second surgery to remove scar tissue from his knee. He did not play at all last season. This year, Mauricio -- currently New York's No. 9 prospect -- came to Spring Training hoping to appear in games before the end of camp, but Mets officials limited his schedule. Mostly, Mauricio stuck to the back fields, going through countless fielding drills and batting practice reps in a slow progression meant to keep him healthy.
When camp broke, Mauricio stayed in Port St. Lucie, Fla., where he played in extended spring training and complex league games. Finally, on Sunday, Mauricio made his first official Minor League rehab appearance, going 1-for-3 for Single-A St. Lucie and even stealing a base.
|
|
|
“He looks good,” said one scout who watched that game. “He’s in really good shape.” Given Mauricio’s extended absence, it can be easy to forget how heralded a prospect he was before his injury. Every year since 2018, Mauricio has placed among MLB Pipeline’s Top 12 Mets prospects. He crowned the list in 2020, ranking ahead of Francisco Alvarez, Mark Vientos and many others, then debuted amidst significant fanfare three years later. In his first Major League at-bat, Mauricio hit a 117.3 mph double, one of only four balls any Met has hit that hard since Statcast began tracking in 2015. (Pete Alonso has the other three.) “He’s a big part of what we’re trying to do moving forward,” manager Carlos Mendoza said during Spring Training. How the Mets proceed from here remains to be seen. A natural shortstop, Mauricio won’t be playing there as long as Francisco Lindor is around. Third base seems unlikely as well, given Vientos’ breakout last season. That leaves second, an adopted position where Mauricio will need to jockey for playing time with Jeff McNeil, Luisangel Acuña and perhaps eventually No. 2 prospect Jett Williams. |
For now, the Mets are mostly concerned with making sure Mauricio stays healthy. Technically on a Minor League rehab assignment, Mauricio can stay there for much of May, and the Mets can always option him to the Minors at the end of it if they feel he needs more development time. Remember, Mauricio is still just 24 years old -- seven months younger than MLB Pipeline’s top Mets prospect, starting pitcher Brandon Sproat. Mauricio has just 26 games of big league experience. “In terms of the actual knee, that’s feeling quite good right now,” Mets director of player development Andrew Christie said recently. “It’s just been so long since he’s been in games. Just getting him acclimated back to playing games is kind of the purpose of the rehab at this point.” Triple-A Syracuse |
The Mets continue to wait for Sproat and No. 15 prospect Blade Tidwell to turn a corner at Syracuse, where both have shown flashes of brilliance but also hold ERAs over 5.00. Tidwell has struck out nine batters in consecutive outings, but he failed to complete the fifth inning in either of them. Sproat, meanwhile, has allowed eight runs over his last 6 2/3 innings. The Mets do have a rotation opening this Sunday that could potentially fit Tidwell, though team officials have shied away from using top prospects in these spots in the past. Double-A Binghamton |
There is, at least, another celebrated pitching duo coming through the system behind Sproat and Tidwell. One of the organization’s fastest risers is No. 5 prospect Nolan McLean, who produced a 1.77 ERA over his first four starts. He has blossomed quickly since giving up his ambitions as a two-way player. Right behind him is No. 6 prospect Jonah Tong, who has fanned 19 batters over his past two starts, spanning 8 1/3 innings. High-A Brooklyn
Although Ryan Lambert is not a Top 30 prospect, he might be just as likely to help the big club this season as about any pitcher in the system. A hard-throwing college reliever, Lambert has struck out 19 batters in nine innings so far this season. He’s capable of reaching triple digits with his fastball. Single-A St. Lucie Don’t look now, but former blue-chip prospect Matt Allan holds a 2.25 ERA through five starts in his comeback attempt from multiple Tommy John surgeries. He’s pitching in the upper 90s with 15 strikeouts in 12 innings. Allan may still have a long road ahead of him, but he’s already accomplished more than many thought possible. |
|
|
MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
|
|
Who is the last Mets pitcher to hit a home run? A) Bartolo Colón B) Jacob deGrom C) Steven Matz D) Noah Syndergaard |
|
|
Congratulations are in order for Chris Majkowski, the Mets’ longtime radio engineer who on Wednesday worked his 5,000th consecutive game. As radio engineer, Majkowski’s job is to make sure everything runs smoothly for longtime play-by-play man Howie Rose and his partners Keith Raad and Pat McCarthy, both at home and on the road. Majkowski has stuck with the job from WFAN to WOR to the Mets’ current radio home on WCBS, and he works Knicks and Rangers games during the offseason for good measure. Two years ago, Bill Ladson profiled Majkowski, who lovingly called his longstanding run of employment “a job, but not a job.” |
|
|
B) Jacob deGrom deGrom homered on Aug. 23, 2019, marking the last time a Mets pitcher has gone over the fence. (No Mets pitcher has made a plate appearance since the advent of the universal DH in 2022.) |
|
|
FORWARDED FROM A FRIEND? SUBSCRIBE NOW |
|
|
To subscribe to Mets Beat, visit this page and mark "Mets Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Mets or that they're checked as your favorite team. |
|
|
© 2025 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.
Please review our Privacy Policy.
You (mlb-newsletters@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB.
Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.
Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
|
|
|
|
