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New York Mets’ Ronny Mauricio follows through on a two-run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
QUEENS — Ronny Mauricio hits the ball so hard that New York Mets manager Buck Showalter fears for the safety of his players when he’s at-bat.
“I’ve already warned everybody that a cutter in. a splitter, or something soft where he’s out in front, you have to be on your toes in the dugout,” the skipper said. “He’s going to clear it out. You’re probably not going to have a lot of time to react. So that was my head’s up to everybody.”
Granted, Mauricio’s bat presents a much larger threat to the opposing pitcher and defense out in the field when he’s in the box because the 22-year-old switch-hitter is already beginning to make a name for himself as an imposing presence.
On Tuesday night at Citi Field during the Mets’ 7-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the organization’s No. 4 ranked prospect obliterated his first career home run, annihilating a Ryne Nelson fastball that left his bat at 112.4 mph and traveled an estimated 440 feet.
“It’s great when you square up a ball like that,” Mauricio said through a translator. “You know it’s going to go far when you feel it off the bat.”
This has become something of the norm since the Mets finally made the decision to call Mauricio up to the majors on Sept. 1 — a move that was considered a long time coming considering how the infielder terrorized Triple-A this season with an .852 OPS, 23 home runs, 71 RBI, and 24 stolen bases in 116 games.
Over his first 10 games in the majors, Mauricio is batting .306, garnering 11 hits in his first 36 big-league at-bats. Those 11 hits have an average exit…
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