Finally, the Mets are expected to call up Luisangel Acuna for the final playoff push
The Mets are giving the fans and logic what they want.
Was it the Francisco Lindor injury scare, the realization they don’t need DJ Stewart much, or the upcoming conclusion to the Triple-A season? Whichever it was, the New York Mets are reportedly calling up prospect Luisangel Acuna according to Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase.
A corresponding roster move will be required and given how the rest of the team looks, it’ll either be Eddy Alvarez packing his things quickly or the Mets swapping Acuna for Stewart.
The team was already in need of some infield help. The regular season-ending injury to Jeff McNeil already had them utilizing Alvarez and Pablo Reyes before him more than they’d like.
What else might have changed for the Mets?
The DFA of Reyes plays a minor role here. We can almost credit the Mets for their handling of him. According to Newsday’s Tim Healey, he is still postseason eligible because he remained with the organization.
This doesn’t do much in terms of options for a potential postseason roster. An expanded bench for at least the first round looked destined to include Stewart and one other utility man. Acuna always made more sense than Reyes simply because of his ability to run so well. He’ll get to show off the wheels soon enough.
One other player left behind whose health might’ve related to this change of heart with Acuna is Brett Baty. Now considered done for 2024 but only the regular season, perhaps it was his lack of progress in healing that had the Mets changing plans.
If Acuna is with the Mets as early as today, he will have received an extra two weeks of consistent playing time in the minors while losing out on the MLB experience. Just over another two weeks left of games on the MLB schedule, there will only be a short period of getting to see what Acuna can offer. It’s not much different than 2022 when the Mets called up Francisco Alvarez to make his MLB debut on September 30. He had the challenge of accomplishing a lot more and was clearly out of his element. Acuna will, hopefully, not be depended on nearly as much.