Ronny Mauricio, Brett Baty continue to show off bats in Mets’ Grapefruit League game vs. Cardinals

JUPITER — The Mets’ top prospects might be forcing some tough decisions soon.

Ronny Mauricio and Brett Baty were used late in the Mets’ spring training loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday and they both produced once again.

Mauricio and Baty both went 1-for-2 Monday at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, with Mauricio hitting another home run, his second in as many days.

Initially, there was some concern about the number of games Mauricio had played over the last calendar year. The 21-year-old Dominican Shortstop played 123 games for Double-A Binghamton last year and 46 for Tigres de Licey over the winter. He was named the Dominican Winter League MVP after a monster offensive showing and seems to have carried the momentum right over to the Grapefruit League.

“He hasn’t had much downtime so that’s probably why he’s swinging the bat well,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “He’s had a lot of recent at-bats.”

The concerns about exhausting their sixth-ranked prospect in the system seem to have subsided. His bat looks stronger than ever, his eye a little more discerning and his defense has improved as well. Mauricio did make an error that Showalter attributed to the hardened field conditions, which are to be expected in the midday South Florida sun, but the lanky Mauricio seems to be moving around the infield with more agility and ease.

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“He’s a better defender — I can tell — than last year when he came over some,” Showalter said. “His work habits, the pace to his game, a certain fluidity that he’s gaining. And I can see it in his confidence level.”

It’s still early so it’s possible that Mauricio slows down, but his hit tool is what he’s known for. So then the question becomes, when do the Mets move him? And where do they move him? He’s blocked at every infield spot and unlike two other top prospects, Baty and Mark Vientos, he’s never played any outfield. His trade value will be higher as a shortstop, which is part of the reason why the Mets have been adamant about leaving him at shortstop this spring.

Showalter has previously said that he would prefer to let a player play himself out of his position. Should Mauricio keep this up, he’ll be playing himself into the outfield and away from shortstop.

However, that might not be a problem for this spring. Mauricio is slated to start the season in Triple-A where he can continue improving his defense and refining his free-swinging ways.

Baty might be a different story. The 23-year-old has hit safely in each of his three spring training games, homering in his first. Monday, he singled off Tommy Parsons in the ninth inning and scored on Mauricio’s home run.

“Brett had a good at-bat,” Showalter said. “I hit him first, I knew they were bringing in a left-hander and I wanted to make sure he got a chance to get two at-bats, which he did. We messed around with the order to make sure him and Ronny and those guys got an extra at-bat.”

Baty is also expected to start the season in Triple-A and at this age and stage in his development, he needs to be playing every day. But if he continues hitting like this and showing solid defense at third base, he’ll force some tough decisions at the end of March.