NEW YORK — The temperature was 6 levels above freezing the primary time Luisangel Acuña strolled onto the grass at Citi Discipline. He wore a starter jacket, tight grey denims and Air Jordans. Solely a handful of individuals have been there.
It was Jan. 31, and the undersized Mets prospect was within the Large Apple to accompany his older half-brother, Ronald, the 2023 Nationwide League MVP, to the annual Baseball Writers Affiliation of America award dinner, the place Ronald was set to just accept his golden trophy in individual.
The youthful Acuña, traded to the Mets from the Rangers the earlier summer season for future Corridor of Famer Max Scherzer, had not but been to Queens, and he wished to go to his future dwelling. So he reached out to the Mets, who organized a swift, behind-the-scenes tour of the stadium.
Quick-forward eight months, and the pocket-sized shortstop discovered himself again in Flushing for his first dwelling recreation in blue and orange. The climate was hotter, the stakes immeasurably increased. With simply 4 sequence remaining within the season, New York clung to a two-game lead over the Atlanta Braves for the ultimate NL wild-card spot. The membership’s finest and most vital participant, MVP candidate Francisco Lindor, had been sidelined by a again damage.
This embedded content material just isn’t out there in your area.
Subscribe toBaseball Bar-B-Forged on,, or
In Lindor’s place, Acuña has shined, serving to propel the Mets to a 6-1 document throughout their latest homestand. The 22-year-old rookie has supplied mature-beyond-his-years protection at shortstop and flashed stunning pop on the plate. 3 times, Acuña went yard in the course of the seven-game stretch. His play has wowed and stabilized the Mets at a most important crossroad.
“What unbelievable manufacturing from Acuña,” one other of New York’s vocal leaders, Brandon Nimmo, stated after Saturday’s 6-3 victory over Philadelphia. “To ask a younger man like him to return in and step in and do what he is finished, you aren’t getting that day-after-day.”
In his first at-bat that evening, Acuña ripped a first-pitch curveball off Ranger Suarez over the wall in left. After the sport, he admitted that he was not fazed by the second or the opponent.
“My dad at all times tells me that it would not matter who’s pitching,” Acuña instructed the media by means of Mets interpreter Alan Suriel. “On the finish of the day, you might have a bat. I merely had my plan, and I executed it.”
One explicit defensive play that Acuña pulled off at shortstop made an enduring impression on his supervisor. Within the ninth inning of Saturday’s win, the diminutive shortstop backhanded a gradual dribbler off the bat of speedster Trea Turner and, in a single swift movement, fired to first for the out. That’s the kind of inside clock you see from a 10-year veteran.
“One of many coaches stated to me: ‘It shouldn’t be that simple,’” Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza instructed media members afterward. “Lindor makes that play simple, however Acuña? We all know there’s expertise there, however that was fairly spectacular, with a plus, plus runner. In order that’s unbelievable.”
When the Mets known as up Acuña on Sept. 14, they have been hoping for competence and maybe a jolt on the basepaths. Few members of the group have been anticipating to see a participant who seems so comfy within the second.
And from right here, that second solely grows in measurement.
On Tuesday, the Mets start a season-deciding, three-game sequence in Atlanta, on the stadium the place Luisangel’s final title turned well-known. Ronald, who has not performed since late Could after tearing his ACL, shall be in attendance to look at little bro play in individual. Luisangel posted an image of the 2 of them in Atlanta on Monday evening.
If the Mets win two of three, they may clinch an unbelievable playoff berth. If Atlanta wins the sequence, they’ll be only one recreation adrift with three to play and the tiebreaker in hand. A Braves sweep would put them into pole place and go away the Mets rueing an enormous missed alternative.
That’s virtually precisely what occurred two years in the past. New York wanted a single win to all however clinch the NL East. As an alternative, the Braves swept the Mets again to Queens. New York, which received 101 video games that 12 months, settled for a wild card and was then toppled by the San Diego Padres within the best-of-three spherical. These three nights in Georgia proved essential.
This time round, the Mets carry extra of a Cinderella power into the huge showdown, regardless of a two-game lead and the game’s largest payroll. On June 2, eight groups stood between New York and a playoff spot. Their postseason odds have been as little as 13.1% on Aug. 28. These odds have since skyrocketed to 78%, regardless of Lindor being sidelined for the previous week.
His absence feels sure to proceed, no less than in the meanwhile. Lindor admitted that if he fits up once more this common season, it can probably require him to play by means of ache. He participated in baseball actions on Sunday however regarded stiff. A return in Atlanta stays one thing of an extended shot.
Meaning Acuña, who’s 11-for-29 with three homers in his first 9 video games, will stay a major character. The Mets don’t want or count on him to proceed hitting .379/.400/.828. His chase fee, which is 9 factors higher than his mark within the minors, will probably worsen. Groups will discover his weaknesses and gameplan to them. Acuña, like all teenager, might want to alter and reply.
However thus far, the Mets should really feel relieved, understanding that the brother of one of many recreation’s largest stars received’t be overwhelmed by the depth of playoff-race baseball.
