Luisangel José Acuña (born March 12, 2002) is a Venezuelan professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

infielder for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2024.

Career

Texas Rangers

Acuña grew up in La Sabana, Venezuela. Acuña had agreed in principle to sign with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

in 2017, but due to the Braves international signing scandal, Atlanta was stripped of its ability to pay his signing bonus and he returned to the open market. On July 2, 2018, Acuña signed with the Texas Rangers for a $425,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. Acuña made his professional debut with the

DSL Rangers The Dominican Summer League Rangers or DSL Rangers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Dominican Summer League and Rookie affiliates of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Boca Chica, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Since 2014, the team ...

of the rookie-level

Dominican Summer League The Dominican Summer League (DSL) is a branch of affiliated Minor League Baseball which is played in the Dominican Republic. The league was founded in 1985. After the demise of the Venezuelan Summer League after the 2015 season, it is the only ...

in 2019, hitting .342/.438/.455 with two

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

, 29

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBIs), and 17

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out a ...

, and was named to the DSL All-Star team. He did not play in any games in 2020 due to the cancellation of the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Acuña spent the 2021 season with the

Down East Wood Ducks The Down East Wood Ducks were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They were located in Kinston, North Carolina, and are named for the wood duck, a colorful local waterfowl. Establi ...

of the

Low-A East The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. Over 111 games, he hit .266/.345/.404 with 12 home runs, 74 RBIs, and 44 stolen bases. Acuña was named the Rangers 2021 minor league Defender of the Year. Acuña opened the 2022 season with the

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans St ...

of the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

, hitting .317/.417/.483 with eight home runs, 29 RBIs, and 28 stolen bases over 54 games. He was promoted to the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. Based in Frisco, Texas, the team is named aft ...

of the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

on August 2 and finished the season after hitting .224/.302/.349 with three home runs, 18 RBIs, and 13 stolen bases for Frisco. Acuña played for the

Surprise Saguaros The Surprise Saguaros are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Surprise, Arizona, at Surprise Stadium. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Kansas City Roya ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

following the 2022 season, and was named to the Fall League All-Star team. On November 15, 2022, the Rangers added Acuña to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. Acuña was optioned back to Frisco to begin the 2023 season.

New York Mets

On July 30, 2023, the Rangers traded Acuña to the

in exchange for

Max Scherzer Maxwell Martin Scherzer (born July 27, 1984), nicknamed "Mad Max", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tige ...

and cash considerations. In 37 games, he batted .243/.317/.304 with 2 home runs, 12 RBI, and 15 stolen bases. Acuña began the 2024 season with the Triple–A

Syracuse Mets The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which ope ...

. In 2024, Acuña played second base, shortstop and center field, and led Syracuse in stolen bases. In 131 games for Triple–A Syracuse, he batted .258/.299/.355 with 7 home runs and 50 RBI. On September 14, 2024, the Mets promoted Acuña to the major leagues and he made his major league debut the same day against the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. He recorded his first major league hit, a single to center field off of pitcher

Taijuan Walker Taijuan Emmanuel Walker (born August 13, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue ...

in the fourth inning. On September 17, during a game against the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

, Acuña hit his first major league home run off of pitcher Joe La Sorsa, leading the Mets to a 10–1 victory. In 2024, Acuña appeared in 14 games, batting .308/.325/.641 with 3 home runs and 6 RBI. Acuña was named to the Mets'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster for the 2025 season. By the end of April, he was slashing .288/.342/.356 with a .698 OPS, 13 runs scored, 3 RBI, and 7 stolen bases. On May 2, Acuña was rewarded with the National League Rookie of the Month Award for April for the first time in his career. However, on June 23, Acuna was demoted to Triple-A Syracuse.

Personal life

Acuña comes from a baseball family. His brother, Ronald Acuña Jr., is an outfielder for the

. His father, Ronald Sr., played in minor league baseball for three organizations, and, in 2022, his younger brother Bryan was signed by the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acuna, Luisangel 2002 births Living people Baseball players from Caracas Binghamton Rumble Ponies players Dominican Summer League Rangers players Down East Wood Ducks players Frisco RoughRiders players Hickory Crawdads players Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball players from Venezuela 21st-century Venezuelan sportsmen New York Mets players Surprise Saguaros players Syracuse Mets players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Cardenales de Lara players