Mets' Luisangel Acuna making a case to be a lineup regular with hot start to career
Mets shortstop Luisangel Acuna celebrates his home run in the dugout with Luis Severino during the second inning against the Philadelphia Phillies in an MLB game at Citi Field on Saturday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Francisco Lindor, even in his current injured state, undoubtedly is the Mets’ MVP.
Second place may have to go to Jeff McNeil. And Max Scherzer should get some votes, too.
For it was the unfortunate right wrist fracture that McNeil suffered on Sept. 6 that spurred the Mets to call up top prospect Luisangel Acuna from Triple-A Syracuse eight days later.
Lindor’s continued absence — he missed his seventh game in a row on Saturday with a bad back — has given Acuna a spot in the everyday lineup.
And don’t forget this: Acuna wouldn’t even be a Met if the club hadn’t traded Scherzer to the Rangers for Atlanta star Ronald Acuna Jr.’s little brother on July 30, 2023.
All the rookie did on Saturday was go 2-for-3 with a home run, a double and a walk in the Mets’ 6-3 victory over the Phillies before a sellout crowd of 44,152 at Citi Field.
In eight games as a big-leaguer, the 22-year-old Acuna is 10-for-26 (.385) with two doubles, a triple and three home runs. He has been flawless at shortstop since taking over for Lindor, who isn’t expected back until Tuesday in Atlanta at the earliest.
“Unbelievable production from Acuna,” said Brandon Nimmo, who had the tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh as the Mets thrilled the fifth-largest regular-season crowd in Citi Field history. “I mean, to ask a young guy like him to come in and step in like he’s doing, you don’t see that every day.”
Here’s a problem you probably didn’t expect the Mets to have a few weeks ago: When Lindor is healthy, who sits among the middle-infield trio of Lindor, Acuna and “Mr. OMG,” Jose Iglesias (2-for-5 on Saturday, batting .335)?
Answer: It’s a trick question. None of them. Even if Lindor’s back feels 100% on Tuesday, he can ease back in and replace J.D. Martinez as the designated hitter. Martinez, who did not play on Saturday, is hitless in his last 31 at-bats.
But that’s an issue for Tuesday, and only if Lindor is ready to play.
Whatever manager Carlos Mendoza decides, Acuna has to keep playing.
If McNeil and Lindor hadn’t gotten hurt, Acuna might be finishing out his season at Syracuse, where he was hitting .258 with seven home runs. At most, he would be a pinch runner in the big leagues.
“I’ll be honest — I wasn’t expecting to be here a couple of weeks ago,” Acuna said through an interpreter. “At that point, I was focusing on my season in Triple-A, just trying to get better each and every day . . . Now I look up and I’m here, just trying to help the team win in whatever way I possibly can. I’m really grateful for that.”
Acuna started off his big day by waiting an extra beat for a 75-mph first-pitch curve from Ranger Suarez to get into his bat’s happy zone. Acuna swatted the pitch into the leftfield stands to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. Two batters earlier, Francisco Alvarez had hit a solo home run.
(Acuna and Alvarez . . . The “A & A Boys”? We’ll let the Mets’ marketing people have that one for free.)
Acuna’s homer was his third in 24 plate appearances. He became the fourth Met to hit at least three homers in his first eight games, joining Mike Jacobs (four in 2005), Ron Swoboda (three in 1965) and Jim Hickman (three in 1962), according to MLB.com.
Acuna also had a ground-rule double with two outs in the sixth that one-hopped into the stands down the rightfield line. At the time, in a 2-2 game, it seemed like a bad break for the Mets. If the ball had stayed in play, Harrison Bader easily would have scored from first.
It looked like a worse break when Iglesias bounced back to the mound to end the inning.
But these are the September Mets (14-5), not the May Mets (9-19).
Nimmo floated the go-ahead single to left-center in the seventh. Alvarez added a two-run double later in the inning.
The Mets went on to deny the Phillies the chance to clinch the NL East title and, more importantly, improved their own wild-card chances by remaining two games ahead of Atlanta for the NL’s final spot. They also continued to put pressure on Arizona and San Diego.
Three of those four wild-card contenders will make the postseason. The Mets plan to be one of them. But first, after Sunday night’s regular-season home finale, the Mets visit Atlanta for three games starting Tuesday.
Ronald Acuna Jr. is out for the season with a torn ACL. But he plans to be at Truist Park this week to, um, cheer on his brother?
“Every single time I do something, he always reaches out to me,” Luisangel said. “And the days that I don’t do something, he says, ‘Don’t worry. Tomorrow you’ll hit three.’ Every day, we talk. Now he just can’t wait for me to get to Atlanta so he can see me play.”
Mets fans know the feeling.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.