Luisangel Acuña has been spectacular for the Mets early on this season.
The youngster seemingly makes his mark almost every time he’s in the lineup — and he did so again during Tuesday’s series opening win over the Arizona Diamondbacks using both his speed and his bat.
Acuña helped the Mets get on the board first as he lined a one out single off of left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez in the bottom of the second and then scored all the way from first on a Tyrone Taylor knock.
An inning later he kept the party going — blooping a hit down the right-field line, and after stealing second easily, he came around to score the third run of the frame on another Taylor two out RBI hit.
He lined out to center in each of his next two at-bats — but still pushed his brief hitting streak to three games with a strong 2-for-4 showing.
This continues a strong stretch of play early on this season from the 23-year-old infielder, who hasn’t offered much in the power department but has done a nice job providing a spark at the bottom of the order.
Acuña now has four doubles, four walks, six stolen bases, 11 runs scored, and 19 hits over his last 17 games — a nice stretch that’s helped him raise his average back up to an even .300 on the young season.
“He’s putting together great at-bats,” Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s not chasing as much, he’s not trying to do too much at the plate and he’s using all fields. We saw it tonight, again going the other way, pulling when he needs to — he’s just such a dynamic player out there.
“When he gets on base, he stole a base then before you know it he’s scoring on a single and then from first base, he has the ability to score on a ball down the line. There’s a lot to like offensively, not just in the box, but also when he gets on-base — I like where he’s at right now.”
Even with Jeff McNeil returning from the IL, the Mets continue finding ways to keep Acuña in the lineup — and with the way he’s been swinging it, it certainly doesn’t sound like that’s going to be changing any time soon.
“He’s taking advantage of his opportunity,” Mendoza said. “That’s part of what we’re doing as an organization, making sure we give these young players a chance — it’s on me and us to continue with his development and continue giving him playing time.
“It’s important for him to get comfortable at this level. He played a big role for us towards the end of last year and now he continues to show that he’s a big-league player and we’ll continue to give him opportunities moving forward.”
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