Mets prospect Luisangel Acuña collects 2 hits in MLB debut

PHILADELPHIA -- Luisangel Acuña was playing video games with friends in Worcester, Mass., late Friday night when his Triple-A Syracuse manager, Dick Scott, called to tell him he was going to the big leagues. Acuña left and returned to his hotel room, where he started “calling everybody.”

“It was just emotion,” Acuña said through an interpreter, describing a tearful phone call with his mother.

Before Acuña could reach his older and more famous brother, however, Ronald Acuña Jr. beat him to it. Ronald, who had seen the news break on social media, dialed up his brother.

“He said, ‘This is everything you’ve been working for,’” Luisangel recalled. “‘But now starts the real part.’”

The Mets on Saturday officially called up Acuña for his Major League debut, starting him at shortstop in place of Francisco Lindor and slotting him ninth in the lineup. Lindor, who is nursing a bout of lower-back tightness, isn’t likely to miss much time, but the Mets used his absence as the nudge they needed to promote their 12th-ranked prospect.

“It’s something we’ve been talking about for a while,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “With Lindor’s tweak yesterday, we thought now was the right time.”

Acuña played all nine innings of his debut at shortstop, finishing 2-for-4 with his first career hits.

"He looks very relaxed," Lindor said. "But he's had the same demeanor since Spring Training. ... He looked fantastic today. I'm encouraged by what I saw today. There's no limit for him, so hopefully he continues to get better."

When rosters expanded on Sept. 1, the Mets didn’t initially call up Acuña because they felt he would benefit from additional Minor League development. By Acuña’s own admission, 2024 has been “a season filled with highs and lows,” including 40 stolen bases at Triple-A but also multiple notable slumps. Overall, Acuña was slashing .258/.299/.355 with seven homers at Syracuse, while playing regularly at shortstop, second base and in center field.

Mets officials remain concerned with Acuña’s propensity to chase balls outside the strike zone and feel he still has polish to add to his game. But with Jeff McNeil out for the season, Lindor ailing and a clear need at the big league level, they felt comfortable setting aside their quibbles for now -- particularly with only eight games left in the Minor League season.

In the Majors, team officials expect Acuña to sub in for Lindor until he’s healthy, and to spell Jose Iglesias occasionally at second base. Acuña can also serve as a pinch-hitter or a late-game defensive replacement.

“He wants to play,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He enjoys being in the lineup. And that was the biggest thing that I got from our staff at Triple-A was the way he handled the hard times. That says a lot about a player. He’s matured a lot, and here he is in the big leagues.”

The Mets acquired Acuña in a one-for-one deal for Max Scherzer before last year’s Trade Deadline. He began the season as their third-ranked prospect and No. 66 in baseball, but has since dropped on those lists while struggling to find consistency at the highest Minor League level.

Long term, questions remain about his ceiling as a hitter and his permanent defensive home, but the Mets aren’t concerned about such issues right now.

Neither is Acuña -- even if he has glanced ahead on the calendar just a bit. When the Mets travel to Atlanta for a three-game series from Sept. 24-26, he expects Ronald, who is recovering from an ACL tear in his left knee, to be there to greet him.

“It’s a really special feeling,” Luisangel said.