Latest Marcus Semien Injury News Leaves Mets With Clear 2B Decision to Make

While the Mets remained limited by injuries, the latest update on one of their veterans leaves them stuck in an interesting spot. On Thursday, the Mets announced veteran second baseman Marcus Semien was heading to the injured list with a left hip flexor strain. Following the move, former top prospect Ronny Mauricio would be recalled to the active roster, looking to finally break into the future plans.

On Monday, the New York Post's Jon Heyman reported that Semien's injury had been bothering him for a bit, but he still attempted to play through it until it entirely limited his movement. The injury "was judged a Grade 3," with the 36-year-old expected to miss at least the next four to six weeks.

Marcus Semien’s hip flexor strain was judged a Grade 3. He tried to play until it severely limited his movement. It will be 4 to 6 weeks minimum. Tyrone Taylor’s was grade 1 1/2 to 2 and he missed 28 days. #mets
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 29, 2026

Losing Semien isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The former Ranger has been among the least valuable players in baseball, regressing in the exact way many insiders predicted when judging the Mets' one-for-one swap of Brandon Nimmo to Texas last offseason. Even his patented defense has regressed, totaling six errors over his last 33 games alone. In 2026, Semien has a minus-3 defensive run value and minus-3 outs above average (OAA, per Baseball Savant); in 2025, his defensive value and OAA were plus-6, and he only committed two errors for the entire season.

For the next stretch of play, the Mets have several internal decisions to fill their second base position, but only one makes the most sense.

Ronny Mauricio deserves a legit chance with the Mets

Injuries and limited time on the active roster have really put Ronny Mauricio in a tough position since debuting for the Mets in 2023.

For now, the Mets have two options for the second base position: Mauricio and Brett Baty. Baty has been given the opportunity to prove himself, appearing in 80 of their 84 games, batting .210 while striking out 77 times and posting a .589 OPS. The last 20 games have been brutal for the former top prospect, batting .118 with just six hits, failing to provide any form of success for a Mets roster desperately searching for it in every department.

While Mauricio’s impact in a short sample size this season has been very quiet, getting the opportunity to play a set position consistently could break the 25-year-old out of his shell. In 13 games this season, Mauricio is batting .190 with a home run and two RBIs, striking out 15 times without recording a walk. Since returning on Thursday, Mauricio has tallied just one hit in 10 games.

As mentioned before, Mauricio has yet to have the chance to play every day, unlike Baty, and the time to do so is right now. His rookie season was short because he was called up to end the season; then he suffered a torn ACL during winter league play that sidelined him for the entirety of the 2024 season and through the summer of 2025.

In 61 games last season, Mauricio showed small sample sizes of what he has to offer, batting .226 with six home runs and 10 RBIs, along with a .293 OBP and .663 OPS.

Ronny Mauricio ties things up for the @Mets in the 9th! pic.twitter.com/a4aepenqG8
— MLB (@MLB) July 29, 2025

The Mets should be leaning on Mauricio going forward now that Semien is sidelined for the foreseeable future, making it a fair opportunity to evaluate what they could potentially have, especially before the MLB trade deadline on Monday, Aug. 3.

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