I didn’t see Mauricio as a weak fielder during 2023. I thought he adjusted well to moving of SS on the fly, actually. He’s been athletic enough to maintain at SS to age 24 at a preposterous 6’4”. I think Acuna is superior but there’s zero reason to think Vientos is or McNeil with his clearly diminished range at SS. As for Baty, I’ve not seen anything that would make me consider him a superior defender. You would not keep an oversized player at a crucial position like SS if you had concern about his defensive chops. He’s would have taken a lot more OF reps were that a case.
Any additional insight you can provide for labeling Mauricio as weaker in the field (aside from unfamiliarity with his MLB position since SS is a bit occupied)?
I was also surprised to see the comment that Mauricio isn't a good fielder. I disagree, though, about Baty. Based on what I've seen, he's a better than average third baseman.
The average ‘internet fan” thinks MLB is like the video game “MLB: The Show”, and believes roster moves can happen with a click of a controller button.
Hopefully the offense wakes up or this will be a rough weekend. I hope Mauricio is good but I think we all remember his 117 mph exit velo on that first hit and don’t remember his .648 OPS in 2023. Let’s give him time to prove he can mash AAA for an extended period of time before calling him up.
Mauricio is so intriguing. Chances are, he'll end up in the outfield rather than middle infield (I'm also assuming Baty/Vientos will continue to battle for third base), but from what I've seen, he shouldn't have too much trouble adjusting to it.
Whether he can ever be a plus defender out there remains to be seen. But he really caught my attention playing for Licey in Winter Ball in 2022-23. He was on the same squad as Oneil Cruz, Elly De La Cruz, Tristan Casas, Alex Call, a couple other guys, and he really stood out.
I didn’t see Mauricio as a weak fielder during 2023. I thought he adjusted well to moving of SS on the fly, actually. He’s been athletic enough to maintain at SS to age 24 at a preposterous 6’4”. I think Acuna is superior but there’s zero reason to think Vientos is or McNeil with his clearly diminished range at SS. As for Baty, I’ve not seen anything that would make me consider him a superior defender. You would not keep an oversized player at a crucial position like SS if you had concern about his defensive chops. He’s would have taken a lot more OF reps were that a case.
Any additional insight you can provide for labeling Mauricio as weaker in the field (aside from unfamiliarity with his MLB position since SS is a bit occupied)?
I was also surprised to see the comment that Mauricio isn't a good fielder. I disagree, though, about Baty. Based on what I've seen, he's a better than average third baseman.
Mauricio played 2 games at AAA and I started to see posts on twatter that he was "rotting" there.. lol..
Mauricio needs to be in the minors for 10 days to get called up (barring injury) so whatever speculation was going around yesterday was not real.
The average ‘internet fan” thinks MLB is like the video game “MLB: The Show”, and believes roster moves can happen with a click of a controller button.
Hopefully the offense wakes up or this will be a rough weekend. I hope Mauricio is good but I think we all remember his 117 mph exit velo on that first hit and don’t remember his .648 OPS in 2023. Let’s give him time to prove he can mash AAA for an extended period of time before calling him up.
Mauricio is so intriguing. Chances are, he'll end up in the outfield rather than middle infield (I'm also assuming Baty/Vientos will continue to battle for third base), but from what I've seen, he shouldn't have too much trouble adjusting to it.
Whether he can ever be a plus defender out there remains to be seen. But he really caught my attention playing for Licey in Winter Ball in 2022-23. He was on the same squad as Oneil Cruz, Elly De La Cruz, Tristan Casas, Alex Call, a couple other guys, and he really stood out.
Dude is an athlete. And he can hit.