It only took Luisangel Acuna one inning to show the NY Mets why the roster needs him

Spring training is all about the journey and not the destination. The end score doesn’t matter much. How you get through those 9 innings is what matters most. In Tuesday’s game versus the Houston Astros, the New York Mets witnessed firsthand just how valuable one of their young players can be.

A single. A stolen base. Advancing to third on an error. And then scoring a run immediately after. This is good old-fashioned pest-like results you dread to see in the opposing team’s uniform but love in your own.

Luisangel Acuna showed off arguably his best attribute and why it can be a dangerous weapon

Acuna hasn’t done much hitting this spring and if you were to base who makes the Mets Opening Day roster based on offensive output, he has a long way to go. Brett Baty who seems to always hit well in spring training added a home run in this game. His best qualities to become the final bench piece for the Mets to start the season are 1) swinging from the left side and 2) being a more experienced third baseman. While important, they don’t measure up on the excitement scale quite like Acuna.

Baty is a red hot 5 for 8 this spring while Acuna is a measly 1 for 6, this single accounting for his lone hit. It’s far too early to draw any final conclusions about who deserves the last foster spot. Acuna feels like the favorite if for no other reason than he matches up well as a potential platoon partner for Jeff McNeil, has the built-in shortstop experience the team may desire off the bench, and is an obvious pinch running threat for more than half of the club’s starters.

A bit of Baty fatigue is another reason why passing up on him in favor of Acuna could lead fans to believing it’s the speedster who should get the gig. Hopes of Baty replicating what Mark Vientos did last year after being held back from regular MLB action does exist and yet when evaluating the entirety of the roster, Acuna winning the job feels like the best case scenario. 

Of course, if Acuna were to win the Opening Day roster spot, he’d have to bring his peskiness to the club from a different spot in the order. More likely to fall somewhere near the bottom until he can prove capable of hitting on a regular basis at the MLB level, wrecking some havoc from the nine spot doesn’t sound so unattractive.