For the first time in 616 days, baseball will be back on Coney Island on Tuesday.
Plenty has changed since the Brooklyn Cyclones last played a home game — a bump up in level, a new stadium name and a different manager — but they will return from an 11-game road trip for their home opener Tuesday against the Hudson Valley Renegades.
Now the Mets’ High-A affiliate, after 19 seasons as a Single-A short-season league team, the Cyclones will play host to the Renegades, a Yankees’ affiliate, at Maimonides Park, which has been rebranded after Brooklyn’s leading health care center.
Now managed by Ed Blankmeyer, the former longtime St. John’s coach, the Cyclones arrive home with a 4-7 record. They have been led by a pair of the organization’s top-five prospects, shortstop Ronny Mauricio and third baseman Brett Baty.
Mets prospect Brett Baty. Paul J. BereswillThe 20-year-old Mauricio, the Mets’ No. 2 prospect per MLB.com, enters Tuesday batting .341 with four home runs and a 1.118 OPS. The 21-year-old Baty, the Mets’ No. 4 prospect, is batting .355 with a .972 OPS.
When the Cyclones last played in Brooklyn, they won the New York-Penn League championship on Sept. 10, 2019. Since then, COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 minor league season with the Mets using Brooklyn only as their alternate site until last month.






