BALTIMORE — After getting some plate appearances in Triple-A, infielder Luisangel Acuña is again with the massive league Mets. The speedy brother of Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. had some good ends in his 12-game minor league stint, main the Mets to really feel extra snug using him as a utility man throughout an vital stretch of the season.
“He was a big part of this team the first couple of months, we got to a point where we felt like, ‘Hey, let’s get him some everyday playing time,’” supervisor Carlos Mendoza mentioned Thursday forward of a doubleheader towards the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday morning. “Now it’s time for him to be back out here and continue to help us win baseball games. So we got him exposure in center field as well, and that’ll be kind of like his role here too — playing everywhere.”
With Jose Siri nonetheless injured, Jeff McNeil will proceed to get video games in middle discipline when Tyrone Taylor wants a day without work, however with Acuña’s velocity and expertise enjoying middle discipline within the minor leagues, the Mets assume they’ll use him within the outfield if wanted.
Acuña went 13-for-45 on the plate (.289) with a double, a triple, 4 RBI and 5 walks over 53 plate appearances with Triple-A Syracuse since being demoted June 23.
“We wanted him to not only get the everyday at-bats, but just kind of stay behind the ball a little bit better so he can make hard contact,” Mendoza mentioned. “You’ve got to give credit to player development and the hitting coordinators, they were there pretty much the whole time. He made some adjustments. Like I said, 50-something plate appearances, he’s up to like 200 plate appearances on the year, you know. So look, he’s got a lot of tools and we feel like he’s going to continue to help us here.”
The 23-year-old was a spark plug for the Mets throughout a stretch in April, however struggled on the plate in Might and June. There weren’t sufficient at-bats to go round for Acuña, Brett Baty and Mark Vientos, and it turned much more tough to seek out them after the membership known as up Ronny Mauricio to switch Vientos on the roster throughout his injured listing stint in June. The Mets tried to shoehorn him into video games to present him enjoying instances, creating unusual defensive alignments late in video games.
The problem of find out how to discover common enjoying time for the 4 of them stays, particularly since Vientos hasn’t been working by points with timing on the plate.
Thursday, within the first recreation of a doubleheader, Vientos and Acuña have been on the bench, however anticipated to play within the afternoon contest.
ROSTER MOVES
Outfielder Travis Jankowski was designated for project to make room for Acuña. Proper-hander Austin Warren is the designated twenty seventh participant for each video games.
Left-hander Sean Manaea joined the Mets on Thursday forward of the journey to Kansas Metropolis. He’s on observe to make his first begin of the season Sunday towards the Royals.
Proper-hander Paul Blackburn (shoulder impingement) is throwing a bullpen Thursday at Camden Yards. Ought to he proceed to progress over the All-Star break, the Mets will ship him to Port St. Lucie to face hitters earlier than sending him on a minor league rehab project.
