If Ronny Mauricio wanted to make a statement to the struggling Mets about why they should finally call him up – the power-hitting infield prospect may have taken care of that with one swing.
Mauricio, 22, ended the Triple-A Syracuse Mets’ game in dramatic fashion by blasting a 440-foot walk-off home to give his team a thrilling 8-7 win over the Buffalo Bison on Saturday night.
The Mets’ No. 2 ranked prospect clobbered a 3-1 pitch from Junior Fernandez, which stayed up, out of the stadium to right field, bringing home Michael Perez from second with two outs in the process.
It had an exit velocity of 113.2 mph.
What made it even sweeter was that, according to the Syracuse Mets, Maurico’s son was at the game to watch his dad play the hero.
The towering shot was Maurico’s 16th home run of the season.
He is hitting .295 with 56 RBIs and a .851 OPS in 356 at-bats in Triple-A.
There have been calls for the Mets, who split two games with the Red Sox on Saturday, to bring Mauricio up to the majors, but they have so far resisted despite holding a 46-52 record with an inconsistent offense.
The Mets have opted to call up the likes of D.J. Stewart and Danny Mendick instead. The latter was promoted on Saturday after Luis Guillore landed on the IL.
Mauricio is a natural shortstop, but the Mets have tried him at different positions this season in Triple-A.
Bringing up Mauricio would mean all the Mets’ top position prospects will be in Queens, with Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty being with the club for most of the season and Mark Vientos recently getting called back up.
The Mets start Saturday seven games out of the final NL Wild Card with seven games remaining before the Aug. 1 trade deadline.