Luisangel Acuña

Luisangel Jose Acuña

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 181 lb.

• Debut September 14, 2024

• Born March 12, 2002 in Caracas, Distrito Capital Venezuela

BR page

Biographical Information

Infielder Luisangel Acuña is the younger brother of OF Ronald Acuña Jr., the son of minor leaguer Ron Acuña and the brother of Bryan Acuña. He was signed by the Texas Rangers as an international amateur free agent on July 2, 2018.

He began his professional career in 2019 with the DSL Rangers 1, hitting .342 in 51 games and being named a mid0season and pos-season All-Star in the Dominican Summer League. He then had to sit out the 2020 season when the minor leagues were shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic, but in 2021 he moved up to the U.S. and the Down East Wood Ducks of the Low-A East, where he hit .266/.345/.404 in 111 games, with 12 homers, 77 runs and 74 RBIs. After the season, he was named a league All-Star and a Rangers organizational All-Star. He played both second base and shortstop that season.

In 2022, he started the year with the Hickory Crawdads of the South Atlantic League before being promoted to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League, reaching AA at age 20. In 91 games between the two stops, he hit .277/.369/.426 with 11 homers and 47 RBIs. Following the season, he played in the Arizona Fall League where he was an All-Star. In 2022, he had batted .317 in Class A but just .224 in AA, but in 2023, returning to Frisco, he conquered that level in brilliant fashion as he batted .315 in 84 games, scoring 68 runs. On July 29th, he was traded to the New York Mets in return for pitcher Max Scherzer, the Mets throwing a lot of money in the deal to make sure they obtained a top-notch prospect in return for one of the best pitchers of his generation. He finished the season by hitting .243 in 37 games for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies of the Eastern League.

In 2024, Luisangel started the season plying in AAA for the first time, with the Syracuse Mets of the International League. he was the team's regular shortstop, although he also saw significant playing time at second base and in center field, the Mets being well aware that there was an obstacle blocking his potential progression to the majors at short, in the person of Francisco Lindor. In 131 games, he hit .258 with 7 homers, 90 runs and 50 RBIs, also stealing 40 bases. He was called up to New York that September, making his debut with the big league Mets on September 14th. Starting at shortstop while Lindor was dealing with tightness in his lower back and batting 9th, he went 2 for 4 in 6-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. He hit the first home run of his career on September 17th, a solo shot off Joe La Sorsa in a 10-1 win over the Washington Nationals.

Further Reading

• Anthony DiComo: "Luisangel Acuña emulating All-Star big bro in journey to the bigs", mlb.com, August 8, 2023. [1]
• Anthony DiComo: "Mets prospect Luisangel Acuña collects 2 hits in MLB debut", mlb.com, September 14, 2024. [2]
• Kennedi Landry: "Acuña's brother carving own path with Rangers", mlb.com, March 4, 2022. [3]

Related Sites

• Luisangel Acuña on mlb.com
• BR Minors page