Fans in Mirabito Stadium in downtown Binghamton, N.Y. collectively gasped as Mets prospect Luisangel Acuña was hit in the face by the first pitch out of Triple-A Somerset pitcher Zach Messinger.
Acuña fell to the ground, holding his head as his teammates, coaches and medical staff tended to his injury. Messinger grabbed his head, before turning around, his head hanging – nobody wants to see that happen in a game.
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After a few minutes, he was helped off the field, as stadium staff covered the blood left on the field with dirt. Fans applauded as it appeared Acuña was well enough to walk under his own power.
The Mets acquired Acuña from the Rangers in a trade that sent starting pitcher Max Scherzer to Texas in July. He is the younger brother of NL MVP-favorite Ronald Acuña Jr., who is within one home run of joining MLB’s elusive 40-40 club, which only has four members, José Canseco, Barry Bonds, Álex Rodríguez and Alfonso Soriano.
He signed with the Rangers in 2018 for $425,000 out of Venezuela and began the 2022 season as the Rangers’ No. 10 prospect. Since being traded, Acuña has catapulted himself up becoming the Mets’ No. 1 ranked prospect.
This is his scouting report, according to MLB Pipeline:
Acuña attacks pitches with an explosive right-handed stroke and an aggressive approach. He’ll draw his share of walks and doesn’t strike out excessively, but he chases and swings and misses too frequently against non-fastballs and doesn’t always make quality contact. If he can settle down a bit and drive the ball in the air on a more regular basis, he could be a .270 hitter with 20 or more homers per season.
Combining solid speed with savvy on the bases, Acuña swiped 126 bags in 151 attempts during his two-plus years in full-season ball before the trade. Earlier in his career, he faced some questions about his ability to remain at shortstop, but he has shown that he has the solid range and arm to do…
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