MLB lacking Ronald Acuña connections this September, and Mets are to blame

The Atlanta Braves were dealt a devastating blow with Ronald Acuña Jr., the reigning NL MVP winner, suffering a season-ending injury. His season ended with a torn ACL for the second time in the last four seasons, and Atlanta has been unable to generate any consistency offensively since he last played.

While Acuña's chances of playing down the stretch were non-existent, there was a very real chance that MLB fans would see an Acuña connection play in the majors.

Acuña's brother, Luisangel, is a prospect in the New York Mets organization. As weird as it'd be to see an Acuña in a Mets uniform, it would've been fun at the very least. Unfortunately, the Mets passed on the opportunity to give MLB fans what they wanted by keeping the younger brother in the minors when they could've promoted him as their position player call-up with the expanded rosters.

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Mets passed on golden opportunity to promote Ronald Acuña Jr.'s brother

As disappointing as it might be to not see an Acuña play meaningful baseball down the stretch, at least for now, Carlos Mendoza's explanation as to why Acuña wasn't promoted makes a lot of sense.

At the end of the day, it comes down to playing time. Acuña is an important prospect in the Mets system, acquired at the 2023 trade deadline in the deal that sent Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers. Had the Mets promoted him to the majors, he'd rarely see the field. That would not help his development at all.

Acuña's .263/.305/.366 slash line with seven home runs and 46 RBI in 121 games this season for Triple-A Syracuse is not good enough to justify receiving much, if any, playing time on a Mets team that enters Tuesday's action just 0.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot in the NL. If he can't see the field, why is that better for him than playing regularly in Triple-A?

Had he been promoted, Acuña's role would've been pretty clear. He would've been used primarily as a pinch runner late in games and potentially as a defender in one of the infield positions up the middle or in center field. He'd presumably only receive at-bats either in blowouts or in games that the Mets run out of bench players.

Instead of using Acuña essentially as a designated pinch-runner, the Mets chose to promote six-year veteran Pablo Reyes who played in 21 games for the Boston Red Sox earlier this season and has seen action on two other MLB teams at eight different positions (only excluding catcher).

Reyes is a veteran who won't be fazed by playing in meaningful late-season baseball and is likely a better fit at this point in time in a minuscule role. The Mets are better off letting Acuña continue to develop in Triple-A by receiving regular at-bats, and if we're being real, the team choosing to go with Reyes now does not mean Acuña can't play a role later in the month at all, especially if the Mets fall out of contention.