Ronny Mauricio has been a bright spot in the irregular start of the Licey, which today breathes other airs, fixed in the line-up of Tony Díaz and José Offerman, so much so that today he runs as the favorite for the Rookie of the Year award.
Born 20 years ago in Batey Alemán, in San Pedro de Macorís, the US $ 2.1 million bond paid by the Mets in 2017 for his signing transformed his life and his surroundings, but not the north, nor the hunger to reach the Major League Baseball, a goal that is written on its roadmap for 2022.
“That firm changed a lot, my family had very, very low resources, thank God with that firm we were able to get ahead and have a better life,” says Mauricio, who in three minor league seasons has placed an offensive line of .262 / .302 / .403.
This 6’3, 166-pound ambidextrous shortstop is third among the top prospects in New York’s ninth and No. 65 in the entire minor league system in the Baseball America rankings.
“This league has a lot to help me with my goal of making it to the big leagues. What I have learned is that here a playoff is played every day, that all the games here are as if it were a final, ”Mauricio told DL.
The power that was projected to him four years ago is already beginning to show (20 homers and 64 RBIs in 108 games between Class A + and AA), although shortstop does not seem to be the position in which he establishes himself, an option to the one that is open to compromise as part of its development.
With Francisco Lindor tied to a long contract with the Mets, candidates for that position on the club’s estate must have the attitude to agree to play elsewhere.
With the Blues he leads in nominal batting (.308), slugging (.481), hits (16), doubles (3), total bases (25), laps driven (7), scored (7), runs created (5.5 ) and is tied for home runs (2).
Sharing a dugout with Hanley Ramírez draws a comparison to what the latter projected in the mid-2000s, when he jumped on the Big Show for a 15-season run that included the 2006 National League best rookie award and the title. batting in 2009.
Hanley’s opinion
Ramírez, who was a shortstop with power, contact and speed to exceed 50 steals twice, agrees with those who compare him to Mauricio and is open to offer his advice.
“A tremendous bat, a tremendous person, a good player and you can see the enthusiasm of wanting to learn and he always lives asking, it’s good when a player like that likes to learn about the game so that it becomes easier for him,” says Ramírez about Mauricio.
“How is he like me? Hit, paddle, he’s cool (daring) with the bat, that’s the good thing ”,
