Where does Mets rookie Luisangel Acuna fit into the team's future plans?

Starting his MLB career going 5 for 11 with the first home run out of the way on Tuesday against the Washington Nationals, infielder Luisangel Acuna has shown off why he should have been on the big league roster long before this past weekend. Only summoned to the New York Mets because they’d be without Francisco Lindor for a couple of days, the exciting young prospect who put together a very mediocre season in Triple-A is already winning over fans in Flushing.

Following an early blunder on defense, Acuna raged back at the plate with a 3 for 4 night that was a triple shy of the cycle. He has been putting together good at-bats, making contact, and looks as comfortable as one could this early in their career.

We’re glad to have him right now. But what about next year? Where does he fit in?

Luisangel Acuna is working his way back into the Mets plans for next season

Don’t tell me Acuna is going to go back to the minors to work on things. Pah-lease! Unless he craters in the playing time he has left this season, don’t exhaust his final minor league option before the season even begins.

The Mets didn’t leave much room on this year’s team for the youngsters to have an impact. Preseason dreams of seeing Acuna up midseason alongside maybe Drew Gilbert and a few others never happened. Blame it on the Mets position players staying relatively healthy.

Acuna seized his opportunity due to the pair of injuries up the middle. A natural shortstop who won’t play the position much at all with Lindor around, the quick conclusion many have had is that he’ll move over to second base. But with Jeff McNeil still around, the Mets will have some maneuvering to do.

Acuna can certainly play second base and be a backup shortstop if needed. He won’t have any everyday role on the infield barring a McNeil trade which would be selling the utility man low. There is no clear opening at either corner outfield spot either. The defensive logjam will have the Mets regularly rotating guys through a variety of positions as they look to put together the best defensive alignment possible.

A remaining possibility for Acuna is to play a lot of center field. Putting his speed to work, he’s someone the Mets can regularly ask to man the position. He actually played exactly the same number of innings there as he did at second base in Syracuse, 253.2. Trading off starts there and at second base seems like the most practical way to get him regular at-bats. Most would probably need to come against left-handed pitchers, too.

The Mets did everything they could to show they aren’t yet committed to Acuna nor should they be. It’s early in his MLB career and the struggles in Triple-A this year were impossible to overlook. However, as a bench piece who can run and so far has shown he can swing a major league bat, Acuna brings a special kind of value to the team they lacked off the bench.