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New York Post
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Ronny Mauricio hits massive homer in quest to return to Mets after injury disaster
Access the Mets beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets. Try it free Ronny Mauricio continues to send reminders that he was a top prospect not all that long ago. The Mets' infielder hit a mammoth home run to right field Thursday with Triple-A Syracuse to continue his blistering showing in the minor leagues in his return from a torn ACL. Advertisement The 24-year-old now has three homers in just 57 minor-league at-bats. Mauricio had long been hyped as a potential starter for the Mets and he showed promise during his 2023 call-up, hitting .292 with an .852 OPS. That momentum, though, came crashing down after he suffered a torn ACL in Dec. 2023 during a Dominican Winter League game and also underwent a procedure to remove scar tissue. Now that he's healthy again, Mauricio is trying to work his way back to Flushing. He's been spending time at second base and third base during his minor-league stint. Advertisement 3 The camera man even lost the ball. @SNY_Mets/X The Mets have Jeff McNeil and Luisangel Acuna at second base, and Brett Baty can play there too, but the road to Queens may not be completely shut. Advertisement McNeil has underwhelmed the last two years, although he's off to a strong start this year. Acuna has cooled off and lost playing time since winning NL Rookie of the Month for April. Any question about Mauricio's readiness, though, is not a pressing once since the team plans to give him time to build back up after one year away. 3 Mauricio moments before homering Thursday. @SNY_Mets/X Mauricio stayed in the minors once his rehab assignment ended, as Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said earlier this month. Advertisement The infielder has appeared in just 17 minor-league games thus far. Thursday's solo homer came in the eighth inning of Syracuse's 12-3 win over Iowa, the Cubs' Triple-A affiliate. He went 2-for-4 with two runs scored while playing second base. 3 Mauricio during spring training. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST 'He's still got a little way to go to get back to being a healthy player, to get back into that true baseball shape, ready to compete at a high level in the big leagues,' Stearns said earlier this month. 'It's continuing to get him at-bats, get him reps in the minor leagues.'
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mets Facing Major Decision After Third Straight Loss
The New York Mets' (29-20) star-studded lineup needs a jolt. Despite having four-time All-Star Francisco Lindor, five-time Silver Slugger Juan Soto, and 2022 NL RBI leader Pete Alonso, they haven't scored four runs in a game since May 12. The Mets have also lost three straight for the first time this season and are 4-6 in their last 10. They're now 1.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies (30-18) for first place in the NL East after being on top for most of the year. Advertisement New York might utilize its farm system to help solve its offensive issues, via MLB insider Mike Rodriguez. New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza© Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports "According to my sources, the Mets' weak offensive performance has led to considering the possibility of calling up Ronny Mauricio from AAA," he reported on Wednesday. "This player has performed excellently..." "If Mauricio continues on this path and the team's offense does not improve, his call-up could be imminent," he continued. The Mets signed Mauricio as an international free agent in July 2017 and called him up to the big leagues in September 2023. The 6-foot-4-inch, 166-pounder slashed .248/.296/.347 with two homers and nine RBI in 26 games. Advertisement Mauricio then tore his ACL while playing for Tigres del Licey of the Dominican Winter League three months later and missed the entire 2024 campaign. New York reinstated the infielder from the 10-day IL and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday, and he is hitting .636 (7-for-11) over three games since then. Mauricio went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, and two RBI on Tuesday and 2-for-2 with a homer, two RBI, two walks (one intentional), and a stolen base on Wednesday. He is the Mets' No. 9 prospect, via Related: Mets Owner Steve Cohen Sends Clear Message After Third Straight Loss Related: Mets' Carlos Mendoza Breaks Silence After Disagreement With Juan Soto
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mets top prospect to start rehab stint in Binghamton
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – A Mets slugging infielder who has been sidelined for well over a year following ACL repairment surgery is starting a rehab assignment with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies Friday. Ronny Mauricio, a Top-10 prospect in the New York Mets system, has been rehabbing his injured knee since tearing his ACL while playing in the Dominican Winter League in 2023. Mauricio, at 24-years-old, is widely known by Mets fans for his physical stature and athleticism as a 6-foot-4-inch switch-hitting infielder with the ability to hit the ball hard and fly around the bases. Mauricio made his Mets debut in September 2023, playing in 26 games for the club in an underwhelming season. In those games, Mauricio showed off all the tools that have had fans excited for years, clubbing 6 extra-base hits, driving in 9 runs, stealing 6 bases, and flashing the leather on tough plays at second and third base. In 2022, Mauricio spent the whole season with Double-A Binghamton, hitting 26 home runs, driving in 89 runs, and stealing 20 bases in 123 games. The young infielder had spent the start of the 2025 season in Port St. Lucie in extended spring training to build up his workload and prepare for his rehab assignment. His assignment is scheduled to begin Friday, May 9, against the Fightin Phils at Mirabito Stadium. There is no timetable for how long Mauricio will spend with Binghamton. Trump administration proposes cuts to SNAP benefits Wi-Fi hotspots may disappear at schools across the country Judge orders Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk to be released Which US airlines fared worst in J.D. Power's customer satisfaction survey? Accused Delaware County drug dealer facing felony charges Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Forbes
24-03-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
As A Rough Spring Training Ends, New York Yankees Did Get Some Positive Developments
Spring training was a nightmare for the New York Yankees, especially on the health front with the loss of Gerrit Cole for the entire season and into next season along with the loss of Giancarlo Stanton for an indefinite period of time coinciding with Luis Gil missing at least three months with a high-grade lat strain after throwing 151 innings and winning Rookie of the Year. A cloud seemed to hang over the Yankees in terms of serious injuries with Cole getting Tommy John surgery on his elbow about a year after inflammation in the elbow cost him the first 75 games along with the revelation of Stanton having injuries in both elbows that started last season and prevented him from swinging after sometime in January. Despite those, there were a few positive developments for a team entering a season as defending AL champions for the first time since 2010. Among them were Austin Wells growing comfortable into his new role as a leadoff hitter. A catcher hitting leadoff is extremely uncommon since there were five games last season when a catcher started out of the leadoff spot (three by Milwaukee's William Contreras, one by Minnesota's Ryan Jeffers and one by Baltimore's Adley Rutschman. For the Yankees, no catcher has started out of the leadoff spot in their history and Wells seems likely to start there on Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers in the season opener. Wells acquitted himself well in the role and is hitting .329 during exhibition games after homering Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays. Wells was put into the leadoff spot on Feb. 28 in a move manager Aaron Boone was curious to see how he would respond in lineups against right-handed pitching. 'I've really liked him in that spot,' Boone told reporters last week. 'I think he profiles well for it. But there's also a number of guys I could still envision being in that role. That hasn't changed necessarily. It's more the fact that I just really like what I'm seeing with Austin and think he can be pretty dynamic there.' Wells positive production in the role is giving the Yankees another option for the top of the order. Last season, Yankee leadoff hitters provided a .249 average with 16 homers and 64 RBIs as Gleyber Torres held the role at the beginning and the end of the season and Anthony Volpe hit .242 in his 77 games there. Seeing a catcher become comfortable in the leadoff spot was hardly the only positive development for the Yankees, who are hoping to figure out how to compensate for Juan Soto's departure to the New York Mets. Backup catchers can be a small role but often who gets those jobs has an interesting backstory and this year J.C. Escarra will hold the role at the start of the season. The 29-year-old made his way on the Yankees' radar last season when he batted .302 in Triple-A, won a batting title in the Dominican Winter League. Those accolades earned him a spot on the 40-man roster, and he is hitting .333, to earn the job a few years after spending time as a rideshare driver and a substitute teacher in his native Miami area. The Yankees told him he made the team and in one of those nice social media clips, Boone told the 29-year-old former Orioles' minor leaguer: 'You're going to the big leagues. You've earned it. What a journey. It's just getting started.' 'I'm sure a lot of people have been counted out at one time, or been through some tough times,' Escarra said to reporters 'It's a cool, feel-good story. But at the same time, I want to show that I'm a prospect of some sort, I can help the team win and that I'm here to stay.' Another option the Yankees hope can remain with the team to stay is Ben Rice, whose first opportunity in the major leagues was replacing Anthony Rizzo after the first baseman fractured his forearm in a collision at Fenway Park June 16. Rice is a converted catcher and a novice to first base when he replaced Rizzo and his first taste of the majors saw him hit three homers against the Boston Red Sox on July 7. Other than the fun power display, Rice batted .171 with seven homers and 23 RBIs. In spring training when the Yankees were seeking bats to replace Stanton, Rice was deemed among their options, and he will make the team due to a .278 average with five homers and nine RBIs in 17 games. It is his way onto the team since Wells is the regular catcher and Paul Goldschmidt entrenched as the regular first baseman and the Yankees are hopeful what occurred in the past month translates into the regular season, especially since his exit velocity was frequently high. Whether or not any of these positive developments carry into the six-month march to what the Yankees hope is a postseason berth remains to be seen, but they are enjoyable developments in a month when two of their most prominent games went down for lengthy periods.
New York Times
02-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Albert Pujols will manage Dominican Republic in World Baseball Classic, sees path to MLB
TEMPE, Ariz. — In past years, when Albert Pujols came as a guest instructor to Angels camp, he was in the more immediate aftermath of his playing career. One of the greatest all-time players, he was still a novice to the game's teaching element. This time, however, he arrived as his coaching career has taken off, and he's hoping to take the next steps of leveraging his legendary playing career into the role of a big league skipper. Advertisement More immediately, Pujols confirmed reports that he will manage the Dominican Republic, his home country, in the World Baseball Classic next year. The move comes after Pujols won a Dominican Winter League championship this year, leading Escogido to a title over Licey. 'I feel really proud, not just to be able to represent my country as a player, when I did it,' Pujols said of his WBC duties. 'But now to be able to lead a great group of guys, I'm really excited. I'm really pumped up.' Pujols, 45, has said he views these managerial opportunities as a chance to grow, with the ultimate goal of becoming a big league manager some time in the not-too-distant future. He left open the possibility of taking over the reins as a skipper somewhere, as soon as 2026. He already has a host of responsibilities, in addition to his winter ball and WBC gigs. He's also a special assistant to Commissioner Rob Manfred, an MLB Network analyst, and is paid $1 million annually by the Angels as part of his 10-year personal services contract. A big league managerial role would likely supersede all of that for Pujols. 'If the opportunity is right and they open the door for me, I always say openly that I want an opportunity here in the big leagues,' he said. 'I think being in Winter League and doing it this year, it gave me the experience that I needed. I think it prepared me for the big job.' Pujols retired from playing after the 2022 season, which he spent back with the Cardinals. He hit 703 home runs and won two World Series rings during his 22-year legendary run. He'll be eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2028, but clearly hopes to be leading a club well before that. Angels manager Ron Washington lauded Pujols as a great presence in camp, given his experience and accomplishments. 'It won't be long before he has a managing job, that's for sure.' Advertisement 'Time will tell, whenever the opportunity comes,' Pujols said. 'If there is some team knocking this year or next year, then why not? Right now, I have a job, which is focusing on the World Baseball Classic. But if there is any club knocking on the door, I would be open to hear that.' Pujols arrived in Tempe on Sunday to spend several days at Angels big league camp before going to work with the organization's minor leaguers in Scottsdale. He said he also spends some time every year at their complex in the Dominican. The soon-to-be Hall of Famer spent 10 seasons with the Angels, where he made the playoffs just once and did not win a postseason game. When asked how close he felt the organization was to putting a winning product on the field, Pujols lauded his former club. 'I think they put a winning product (on the field) every year,' he said. 'I think the problem is injuries. When you've got the guys that you're counting on getting hurt, it's hard to replace those guys. The biggest things is that, I think if the organization is able to keep guys healthy, guys being on the field and produce, I think we have a pretty good chance to win a championship.'
