Mets infielder Ronny Mauricio suffered a knee injury playing in the Dominican Winter League on Sunday and it turns out it's a torn ACL, which will require surgery, the Mets announced Tuesday. Depending upon how the recovery goes, it's possible Mauricio could return and play maybe around half the 2024 season, but there's no doubt he'll start the season on the injured list. The team said an estimated timeline would be determined after the procedure.
Mauricio, 22, was having a big winter ball season so far, hitting .433 with two doubles, a triple and a home run in seven games. He debuted for the Mets last season and the former top-65 prospect was expected to compete for a starting job heading into spring training.
As things stood prior to Mauricio's injury, the Mets were set to have him, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos and Joey Wendle fight for the third base job out of camp. Mauricio could also handle second base and then the Mets could play Jeff McNeil in the outfield if that's how everything fit best for them.
The Mets are now expected to "look at external options" for third base, reports The Athletic. Matt Chapman is the big-name third baseman in free agency while Justin Turner and Gio Urshela are also feasible options. The report also mentioned the possibility of a trade.
Regardless, the injury is definitely a setback for the Mets and the switch-hitting Mauricio. He made his MLB debut last season on Sept. 1 and hit .248/.296/.347 (77 OPS+) with four doubles, two homers, nine RBI, 11 runs, seven steals and 0.2 WAR in 26 games. There were some nice flashes and he actually collected at least one hit in 19 of his 26 games.
If there's a silver lining here, it's that this happened in December instead of spring training and that Mauricio is still very young. There's hope for him to salvage a productive 2024 season and maybe the Mets add a quality, veteran third baseman in the process.
