Injured Mets Prospect Considered One of Best

Heading into the 2024 season, the New York Mets planned on not being competitors and didn't want to spend major money throughout the winter.

Ideally, their plan was to piece together a roster with veterans and give their burgeoning prospects time at the Major League level. That was evident late last year when they called up a group of talented youngsters to get their first exposure in the MLB.

One who immediately turned heads was Ronny Mauricio.

In his first Major League at-bat, he hit a double that had an exit velocity of 117.3 miles per hour, which was the hardest hit ball by any Mets player in 2023.

Mauricio recorded a slash line of .248/.296/.347 with two home runs and nine RBI in 26 games and 108 plate appearances.

The No. 4 ranked prospect in their pipeline seemed like a prime candidate to make the Opening Day roster and get repetitions on offense and defense throughout the 2024 season.

However, the 22-year-old tore his ACL in December 2023 and is expected to miss the entire year when recovering from that injury.

It's a devastating development for New York and Mauricio. He was set to be a major contributor this season as the front office begins their evaluations on who they can build around.

But, despite the injury, Sam Dykstra of MLB Pipeline, still views the talented infielder as one of the best prospects in baseball, ranking him as the No. 6 overall second baseman.

Out of this position group, Dykstra lists Mauricio as having the best power and best arm.

The Mets were going to have him compete for the third base role this upcoming season as they search for their everyday player at the hot corner.

They'll have to wait another year to get the star prospect back into the mix.