How Luisangel Acu?a can earn a callup

This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- Toward the end of last month, when asked what he might value in a September callup, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza responded: “We’re looking at versatility and speed.”

For those with an eye on New York’s farm system, that description seemed to point to one man in particular: Luisangel Acuña, who plays a trio of defensive positions and has more than three times as many stolen bases as anyone else at Triple-A Syracuse. But when Sept. 1 arrived, the Mets did not call up Acu?a. Instead, they tabbed Pablo Reyes, a 30-year-old veteran infielder who does many of the same things well but doesn’t feature nearly as prominently in the organization’s long-term future.

The decision spoke volumes about the Mets’ September callup strategy in the heat of a pennant race. This had nothing to do with the future and everything to do with the present.

“In that particular case, I think it’s just playing time,” Mendoza said. “For Acu?a, he’s just got to continue to play. There’s not going to be many starts here, and it’s important for his development to continue to play every day.”

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At least some of the hesitation regarding Acu?a surrounded the fact that, by most measures, he hasn’t had a standout season. The prize of last year’s Trade Deadline and the Mets’ third-ranked prospect heading into Spring Training, Acu?a has since fallen to No. 12 due to notable slumps in early April and July. He recently fell out of MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 altogether and is hitting just .263/.305/.366 overall, with seven home runs in 121 games.

While Acu?a does lead the Syracuse Mets with 36 stolen bases, his 73% success rate is below what most evaluators consider constructive. (Reyes had an 87% success rate in the Minors.) And the opportunity cost these days is greater. Earlier this decade, Major League Baseball stopped allowing teams to activate anyone from their 40-man roster in September. The league now limits clubs to one pitcher and one position player, which incentivizes contenders to call up specialists like pinch-runners or defensive standouts.

When asked about Acu?a earlier this year, one Mets official mentioned that the organization wanted to see him pull the ball more frequently and better handle velocity from pitchers -- things the 22-year-old has worked to correct throughout the season. He ended August on a 12-for-28 run with a homer, a triple and just four strikeouts, portending better things to come.

But Acu?a, the younger brother of Ronald Acu?a Jr., won’t be doing those things in the Majors just yet. Although Mendoza left the door open for Acu?a to come up later this month, the overwhelming likelihood is that he’ll remain at Triple-A until at least next spring, when he’ll have a chance to challenge for a big league job.

“We’ve still got a month to go,” Mendoza said. “A lot can change here. There were a lot of names in the [September callup] conversation. Acu?a was one of them, but we decided to go with Pablo.”

Elsewhere on the farm ...

Double-A Binghamton: No. 2 prospect Jett Williams returned to Double-A after missing more than four months due to a right wrist injury that required surgery to fix. Williams, MLB Pipeline’s No. 56 prospect, has had a rough go so far, with 10 strikeouts in 14 plate appearances, but the whole point of this exercise was for him to knock off rust before the winter. He’s likely to appear in the Arizona Fall League next month to make up some of the at-bats he lost while sidelined.

High-A Brooklyn: Jonah Tong’s dream season continued when the Mets promoted the right-hander from Brooklyn to Binghamton at the start of September. Tong, an unranked prospect on Opening Day who has risen to No. 10 on the organization’s Pipeline list, completed his tour of the lower Minors with a 3.38 ERA over his final 11 starts at Brooklyn, striking out 72 batters over those 53 1/3 innings. He should receive two or three starts with the Rumble Ponies before the end of summer.

Single-A St. Lucie: Carson Benge has begun his career with an emphatic bang. The Mets’ first-round Draft pick (No. 19 overall) this July, Benge homered twice in his first nine games as a professional and also walked eight times, producing a .537 on-base percentage over that stretch. A two-way player at Oklahoma State, Benge gave up pitching upon signing his first pro contract to concentrate on life as an everyday outfielder.