The reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr.’s season-ending injury dealt a devastating blow to the Atlanta Braves. For the second time in the past four seasons, he suffered an ACL tear that ruined his season, and Atlanta has struggled to score consistently since he left the team.
Acuña had little chance of participating in the closing stages of the season, but there was a good probability that Acuña connection plays would be seen in the majors.
Luisangel, Acuña’s brother, is a prospect in the New York Mets system. Even while seeing an Acuña in a Mets uniform would have been strange, it would have been entertaining nonetheless. Regretfully, by holding the younger brother in the minors when they might have called him up as a position player with the expanded rosters, the Mets missed the chance to give MLB fans what they wanted.
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The Mets missed a fantastic chance to support the brother of Ronald Acuña Jr.
Though it is disheartening not to watch an Acuña play significant baseball in the final stretch, Carlos Mendoza’s reasoning for not promoting Acuña makes a lot of sense—at least for the time being.
It all boils down to playing time in the end. Acquired during the 2023 trade deadline as part of the trade that brought Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers, Acuña is a valuable prospect in the Mets system. He would hardly have seen the field if the Mets had elevated him to the majors. That would do absolutely no good for his development.
Acuña’s slash line for Triple-A this season is.263/.305/.366 with seven home runs and 46 RBI in 121 games. With the Mets sitting just 0.5 games behind the third Wild Card slot in the National League going into Tuesday’s action, Syracuse is simply too good to warrant much, if any, playing time. Why is playing regularly at Triple-A better for him than being unable to see the field?
If Acuña had received a promotion, his position would have been more evident. He might have been employed as a defender in center field or one of the infield spots up the middle, but his primary usage in late games would have been as a pinch runner. Presumably, he would only get at-bats in games if the Mets ran out of bench players or in blowouts.
The Mets decided to elevate Pablo Reyes, a six-year veteran who has appeared in 21 games for the Boston Red Sox earlier this season and has experience on two previous MLB teams at eight different positions (catcher excluded), instead of employing Acuña effectively as a designated pinch-runner.
Reyes is a seasoned player who is unlikely to be phased by playing in a significant late-season role and is perhaps a better match right now. The Mets would be better off allowing Acuña to continue his development in Triple-A with regular at-bats. If we’re being honest, the team’s decision to go with Reyes now does not exclude Acuña from having any impact later in the month, particularly if the Mets are eliminated from contention.
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