Why The Mets Haven’t Given Ronny Mauricio a Shot During Offensive Slump

The New York Mets keep finding ways to lose games, falling to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night for their 12th consecutive defeat. Even though Devin Williams played a starring role with his ninth inning meltdown, the offense again took center stage, generating nothing against a mediocre Twins' staff outside of Francisco Lindor's three-run homer.

Mets are last (30th) in on base percentage (.285), slugging (.332) and OPS (.617)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) April 22, 2026

It surely didn't help the mood of Mets' fans on Tuesday to see Ronny Mauricio have a massive night for Triple-A Syracuse. Mauricio, who has appeared in only a handful of games at the big league level this season, homered three times on Tuesday and has launched five long balls in the past week.

RONNY MAURICIO WITH HIS THIRD HOME RUN OF THE NIGHT! pic.twitter.com/dUVK7I5I5A
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) April 22, 2026

The long ball barrage could have been useful in the Mets' lineup, which has struggled to produce runs since Juan Soto went on the injured list. Soto is set to return from the IL tonight, but adding him alone will not be enough to fix the team's myriad of woes at the plate.

The Mets previously used Mauricio in the big leagues when Soto first went on the injured list, promising him a limited role in his first stint in the majors. Jorge Polanco was still on the roster then, which led Mauricio to get just four at-bats before being sent back to Triple-A Syracuse when the team recalled Tommy Pham on April 13th.

Carlos Mendoza says the Mets opted to bring Ronny Mauricio up due to Jorge Polanco and Brett Baty being a little banged up

Mendoza told Mauricio the playing time will be limited, but he will still play a key role pic.twitter.com/tFC5GOmGDx
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) April 7, 2026

Why The Mets Haven't Called Ronny Mauricio Back Up Yet

It would make some sense to give Mauricio another look with the offense struggling profoundly. Due to procedural reasons, however, the earliest the Mets can bring Mauricio back to Flushing is on Friday night against the Colorado Rockies.

Once a position player is sent down to the minor leagues, they must remain there for a minimum of 10 days. The one exception is if the major league team suffers an injury, which allows the club to bring that player back earlier to fill that need.

The Mets did use the injured list during the past week when they finally placed Polanco on the shelf with right wrist soreness. Instead of promoting Mauricio, however, the Mets brought up a third catcher in Hayden Senger instead.

Using a third catcher would make sense if the Mets wanted to try DHing Francisco Alvarez and using Luis Torrens to bolster the defense, but the Mets haven't done that at all. Senger has yet to appear in a game since his recall and the Mets have not deployed both Alvarez and Torrens in the same lineup, turning that into a wasted roster spot.

Mauricio has potential with the bat and the ability to spell Marcus Semien at second base or Bo Bichette at third. The main strike against Mauricio is that he cannot play first base, which is where Mark Vientos and Brett Baty have been playing with Polanco on the shelf.

Neither player has fared well with the bat, which should at minimum create an opportunity for Mauricio to serve as the DH while MJ Melendez plays first base. Simply hoping that Baty and Vientos figure things out is not a strategy as the Mets are digging themselves an early hole that may be insurmountable, even with 139 games to go.

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