Mets prospect Ronny Mauricio turned 18 years old in April, and already he is one of the top 50 prospects in baseball.
Baseball Prospectus ranked the Mets shortstop as the No. 45 prospect in the minors in its midseason top-50 list, touting his potential at the plate.
"Mauricio has been holding his own in the [South Atlantic League], and he's got a shot for a plus hit, plus power offensive profile at shortstop," Baseball Prospectus wrote.
On the flip side, BP cautioned that Mauricio's power has yet to develop, and should he fill out more physically then it could impact his defensive abilities.
"His aggressiveness could damper the hit tool," BP wrote. "He has the ability to grow into substantial power, but he's not there yet, especially in games. And that same filling out that might get him to the power projection also might move him down the defensive spectrum. Things could go many different ways from here ..."
Mauricio, who is ranked the Mets' No. 2 prospect by MLB.com (just behind fellow shortstop Andres Gimenez), has a .280/.318/.376 batting linen with three home runs 22 RBIs in 75 games with Low-A Columbia.
A year ago, Mauricio spent his time at the Rookie level, where he slashed .273/.304/.410 with three home runs and 35 RBIs in 57 games with two different teams.
Still, Mauricio has time to develop and grow. A native of the Dominican Republic, he iis 6-foot-3, 166 pounds. MLB.com ranked him the No. 89 overall prospect before the season, and he came in at No. 98 in Baseball America's preseason top 100 list.
"He has outstanding hitting ability, and we're trying to get him to become a more complete hitter," Columbia manager Pedro Lopez told MILB.com's Rob Terranova last month. "So while he does have some power, it's probably going to be the last tool he is going to develop. We see it in BP, but right now he and [hitting coach Luis Rivera] are working on narrowing his strike zone, staying away from chasing outside of that, and using the whole field."