Prospect Deep Dive: Luisangel Acuña
Hit: 50 | Power: 45 | Run: 60 | Arm: 55 | Field: 60 | Overall: 45
With spring training underway — Carlos Mendoza and David Stearns have continued to address the media in preparation for the 2025 season. Throughout the varying field of questions, names of young prospects are often asked about.
Luisangel Acuña’s name has come up often.
“He’s going to have a huge role…we keep saying that the young players will get their opportunities, Luisangel will get his…he shows us that he can play at this level, and will continue to get opportunities.” -Carlos Mendoza, Mets Manager
Luisangel Acuña, 22, is 5’8 and 180 pounds. He quickly and seamlessly became an integral stitch in the 2024 Mets baseball. Keep in mind, it’s in the DNA; his brother won the 2021 MVP. Mets fans know, in spurts, he sure played like one.
David Stearns on Acuña’s great September and October:
“He’s not scared. The moment doesn’t impact him. He’s ready to go, and he wants to compete.”
Luisangel grew up in La Sabana, Venezuela. His father, Ronald Sr., played in minor league baseball for three organizations, and, in 2022, his younger brother Bryan was signed by the Minnesota Twins.
From the Mets’ perspective, after they traded Max Scherzer and cash considerations for Acuña in 2023 — the only prior perspective on him, perceptually, was that he was coming from the Rangers’ system. Originally, Acuña had actually agreed to sign with the Atlanta Braves in 2017; but they had an international signing scandal, and were stripped of their ability to pay his signing bonus.
Instead, Acuña signed with the Texas Rangers for a $425,000 signing bonus.
Acuña made his professional debut in rookie ball with the DSL Rangers of the Dominican Summer League in 2019 — where he slashed .342/.438/.455 with 2 HR, 29 RBI, and 17 stolen bases.
In addition, he was named to the Dominican Summer League All-Star team.
Like the rest of baseball, the following 2020 season in the minors for Acuña was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His 2021 season was spent with the Low-A East Down East Wood Ducks; over 111 games, he hit .266/.345/.404 with 12 HR, 74 RBIs, and 44 stolen bases.
Acuña was also named Rangers’ minor league Defender of the Year in 2021, as well.
Acuña’s 2022 season opened with the High-A Hickory Crawdads in the South Atlantic League — where he slashed .317/.417/.483 over 54 games with 8 HR, 29 RBIs, and 28 stolen bases.
He was promoted to the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders of the of the Texas League on August 2nd, finishing with a slash line of .224/.302/.349 with 3 HR, 18 RBI, and 13 stolen bases.
Following the 2022 season, Acuña played for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League, and was named to the Fall League All-Star team. The Rangers added Acuña to their 40-man roster on November 15, 2022 to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. He was optioned back to Frisco to begin his 2023 campaign.
Before the aforementioned trade for Max Scherzer on July 30, 2023, Acuña batted .243/.317/.304 with 2 HR, 12 RBI, with 15 stolen bases in 37 games.
Beginning the 2024 season in Triple–A Syracuse, Acuña played second base, shortstop and center field. He led Syracuse in stolen bases (40) over 131 games, slashing .258/.299/.355 with 7 HR, 20 doubles, and 50 RBI.
On September 14, 2024, the same day that the Mets promoted Acuña to the major leagues, he made his major league debut. He recorded his first major league hit against the Philadelphia Phillies off former-Met, Taijuan Walker.
Worth a watch.
On September 17, in a game against the Washington Nationals, Acuña hit his first major league home run off Joe La Sorsa, which led the Mets to a 10–1 victory.
Worth another.
In 2024, Acuña appeared in 14 games and batted .308/.325/.641 with a 168 OPS+. He tacked on 3 home runs and 6 RBI, but computers often don’t favor magic. Watching Acuña play gave a sense of comfortability.
Aside from the stats, it was his defense which was the confidence boost the Mets needed during a critical time in their season:
“Let’s put the offensive contributions aside for a second, the defense is real; and he played at a very high level when Lindor was out. We didn’t miss a beat defensively, and I thought that was really impressive.” -David Stearns, Mets President of Baseball Operations
At the end of the day, you should always be hopeful that every prospect pans out.
In the case of Acuña, who showed nothing but great signs in a small sample size in 2024 — patience will be his best friend. It’s extremely likely that Jeff McNeil is the second baseman to begin the year, with a chance for Nick Madrigal to win a utility role on a split contract. There was even talk of a Jose Iglesias meeting that could be taking place this weekend, or Monday. That could be for any role, player or coach. You can never have too much depth, especially around the infield.
On February 14th, it’s possible that Jose Iglesias hired Scott Boras and didn’t get the desired multi-year deal he was looking for. Can’t say it hasn’t happened before.
I consider Acuña in the same vein as I do the majority of the Mets’ top prospects: a little more time in Triple-A won’t do any harm; to their draft stock, or their development. To begin the season, Acuña may not break camp — but by the end of the season, he could be 2026’s starting second baseman.
For his ceiling, will he be showcased in multiple all-star games and in MVP conversations every year? Probably not.
His floor? A very good player who still needs to develop.
Patience is the pivotal proponent in prospect projection.
Can’t wait for baseball, though.
Scouting Report, Luisangel Acuña:
“Batting from the right side, Acuña has a stance eerily similar to his brother’s, but at 5-foot-8, he lacks the size or subsequent strength to match his sibling’s power output. He does have solid bat-to-ball skills and plate coverage, however, and that sometimes comes to his detriment. While he keeps the strikeouts in check (18.6 percent last year), he can expand the zone in search of contact, leading to weaker groundballs the other way that keep him from playing into his average raw pop. A more selective, air-based approach could help get him to 20 homers in time, but since he’s on the 40-man roster now, time is certainly ticking on that clock.”
“Acuña has the speed to beat out some of those groundballs, and he’s stolen at least 40 bags in three straight seasons. He has the arm and range to be a solid shortstop, but the looming shadow of Francisco Lindor caused the Mets to give him more post-trade looks at second base. He should be even better there, and his wheels have gotten him looks in center field in his first taste of Triple-A.”