Mets Rookie Luisangel Acuña Blasts First Career Home Run, Finishes a Triple Shy of Cycle
Playing under the bright lights of New York amidst an action-packed playoff chase isn’t proving to be too much for Mets rookie Luisangel Acuña, who accounted for one-third of the club’s offence in Tuesday’s 10-1 victory over the Washington Nationals.
Acuña, the younger brother of the reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr., connected on his first big-league home run as part of a 3-hit performance that included a trio of runs scored. He ended his memorable night at Citi Field just a triple shy of the cycle.
The 22-year-old’s solo shot came in the eighth inning off Nationals reliever Joe La Sorsa, sending a 414-foot blast to left-centre that came off his bat at 103.2 mph. But that wasn’t even his hardest-hit ball of the night, falling a few ticks short of his 109.5-mph double in the fifth.
If not for a back injury to NL MVP candidate Francisco Lindor, Acuña would still be in Syracuse with the Triple-A Mets. Instead, the highly touted prospect is helping the big-league club fend off his brother’s Atlanta Braves, recording five hits in 11 plate appearances.
“I’m just here to help in whatever way I possibly can,” Luisangel Acuña told reporters post-game, including the Associated Press, through a club interpreter.
The Mets acquired Acuña just over a year ago in a trade with the Texas Rangers, sending Max Scherzer and cash to the eventual World Series champions at last season’s trade deadline. And he’s already making an impact in the majors, both with his bat and glove.
While filling in at shortstop for Lindor, the right-handed infielder has logged 26.2 innings, recording one defensive run saved and one out above average. Outside of a single fielding error, his defence has been nearly spotless thus far.
It’s one thing to provide a spark like that for a team already out of playoff contention. It’s another to be doing it for a big-market club like New York, which enters Wednesday’s slate two games up on Atlanta for the final NL wild-card seed.
“He had a hell of a night and I hope he has many, many nights like that in his career,” Mets teammate Pete Alonso said. “Super exciting start for him, and he’s been playing super lights-out for us.”
Acuña, who, as the clip above illustrates, shares very similar hitting mechanics to his older brother’s swing, was able to retrieve his home-run ball and plans to honour it in a trophy case back home in Venezuela.
He also heard from his brother Ronald, who congratulated him on reaching such a special milestone Tuesday night.
“Excited. Proud of myself,” Acuña said. “I think this is something that I earned.
The two Acuña siblings will have a chance to visit each other next week when the Mets travel to Truist Park for a pivotal three-game series starting Tuesday, where there’s expected to be an emotional jersey swap.
“He just told me that he was going to be there,” Luisangel Acuña said, “and just to make sure that I’m there so we can switch jerseys.”
Prior to last Saturday’s debut, Acuña had spent this season at Triple-A, struggling to a .258/.299/.355 slash line and 69 wRC+ across 131 games with Syracuse. He also hit just seven home runs while driving in 50.
But he did showcase his outstanding athleticism, stealing 40 bases in 54 attempts one season after swiping 57 split between New York and Texas’ Double-A affiliates.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: D. Benjamin Miller. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication