How Luisangel Acuna made a ‘dream’ MLB start
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Jorge Castillo, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — Luisangel Acuña heard from his star brother almost every day during his rise through the minor leagues.
Keep working hard. You looked good tonight. Stay disciplined.
The kernels of advice and encouragement have helped Acuña push through a career that started in 2019 with the Texas Rangers, where he reached Double-A and was a Fall League All-Star in 2022, then jumped into overdrive. From the moment he signed, expectations had come from that last name, which only mounted when the Rangers traded Acuña to the New York Mets last summer for Max Scherzer. But having Ronald Acuña Jr., an NL MVP and four-time All-Star by age 25, as an older brother became fuel.
“That’s pride, inspiration,” Luisangel said recently. “It feeds my desire to work. He’s at the peak. I think that’s the best thing a baseball player in the minor leagues can have, a brother in the major leagues and one who is a superstar. That’s motivation.”
The brotherly advice instilled Luisangel Acuña with confidence he needed after he unexpectedly joined the Mets two weeks ago in the middle of a heated playoff race. The younger Acuña has flourished as the injured Francisco Lindor‘s replacement at shortstop: He’s batting .379 with three home runs and a 1.228 OPS in nine major league games while impressing his peers with his demeanor in the high-stakes contests.
“He’s just calm, poised,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s just like he belongs in the big leagues.”
Acuña has helped the Mets remain two games ahead of his brother’s Atlanta Braves for the final NL wild-card spot, and for the next three nights, the brothers will be in opposite dugouts at Truist Park for a series that could decide their clubs’ postseason fates. Ronald, out for the season with a torn ACL, traveled to Atlanta to watch his little brother play at the major league level for the first time.
If all had gone according to plan for the Mets, Acuña would not be on the trip.
The plan wasn’t for him to make his major league debut two Saturdays ago during a pivotal road series against the first-place Philadelphia Phillies. The 5-foot-8 Acuña was expected to spend the season with Triple-A Syracuse, where he was batting .258 with seven home runs and a .654 OPS. Still just 22, he was not beating down the door to join a veteran playoff-caliber club, and that was OK.
But as magical as the Mets’ in-season turnaround has been, a reversal that launched the club from 11 games under .500 to 18 games over in less than four months, they have not been immune to injuries. Two in the past month left them short in the middle infield. First, second baseman Jeff McNeil was lost for the remainder of the season with a broken left wrist. Less than a week later, a much bigger blow: Lindor left a game on Sept. 13 with a lower back injury.
Acuña received the call that night, and the next afternoon, he was in the Mets’ lineup in Philadelphia, batting ninth and playing shortstop. He went 2-for-4, recording his first career hit in his second plate appearance. The Mets lost that day and the next before going 6-1 during a crucial homestand, culminating with a series win against the Phillies.
Acuña started six of those games at Citi Field. He recorded hits in five of them. In his first home game, he bounced back from an early run-costing error with three hits, including an RBI double and his first career home run, in a 10-1 rout of the Washington Nationals. He homered again the next night and off All-Star Ranger Suárez on Saturday in a 6-3 win over the Phillies with “Hakuna Matata” — a play on his last name — as his walk-up song.
“That’s sort of the major league start anyone would dream of, right?” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said last Friday.
In the Mets’ dream scenario, Lindor is back at shortstop Tuesday and Acuña, who has extensive professional experience at second base and in center field, is moved around the diamond. But that appears unlikely.
On Sunday, Lindor indicated he might not return to play in the regular season, which means he might not return at all if the Mets miss out on the postseason. Lindor, who was considered Shohei Ohtani‘s strongest challenger for NL MVP before the injury, said he expects to play in pain if he does return.
Lindor suffered the injury Sept. 13 in Philadelphia, which forced him to exit the game in the seventh inning. He has since played just one inning. The Mets are 6-3 during that stretch.
“I’m super happy,” Lindor said of the team’s play without him. “I knew that they could do it. I’ve believed in the team since Day One. I believe in what Stearns, Mendy, and the whole front office did from Day One. We have a really good team.”
Acuña has been part of it for less than two weeks, producing at a level unexpected after his struggles in Triple A. Acuña said regularly playing in cold weather for the first time was a factor in his struggles earlier in the year. He credited Syracuse bench coach JP Arencibia for suggesting a mechanical adjustment at the plate in late April — raising his hands instead of having them low like his brother — that produced better contact and improved his ability to hit the ball in the air with power. But plate discipline remained a flaw — he compiled just 32 walks in 587 plate appearances in Syracuse, good for a career-low 5.5% walk rate — and the results remained underwhelming.
“I think it’s always tough to predict that someone is going to perform even better at the major league level than they performed at the minor level,” Stearns said. “I think what we had confidence in was the pulse and that the moment wasn’t going to be too big for him. He’s not going to get nervous. He’s excited to be here, and he believes he can perform in this environment. And, clearly, he has.”
This week, Acuña will play the most important games of his career with a familiar face across the way. At some point, the brothers from Venezuela plan on swapping jerseys. It’ll make for a memorable moment. Between the lines, little brother, equipped with his brother’s wisdom, will look to create a few more.
“He always told me it’s the same game,” Acuña said. “Just do what I know.”
Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson is now the majority owner of Legacy Motor Club under a restructuring in which investment adviser Knighthead Capital Management bought into the Cup Series team.
Knighthead manages $9 billion of assets with a portfolio that includes investments in Hertz, World Endurance Championship sports car team JOTA Racing, Singer Vehicle Design, Revology Cars and a controlling stake of English soccer team Birmingham.
Johnson told The Associated Press that the deal announced Monday makes Knighthead “a significant minority partner” in that the private equity firm bought much of the ownership stake held by Legacy co-owner Maury Gallagher.
Gallagher retained some shares in the NASCAR team but will step down from day-to-day operations and join Hall of Famer Richard Petty as an ambassador for Legacy.
Johnson, who has been living in England for more than a year, will return to Charlotte to be hands-on in his larger role with Legacy. His wife and two daughters will follow at the end of the school year.
“I thought I was going to have three more years to understand ownership more,” Johnson told the AP of his original plan when he bought into the NASCAR team ahead of the 2023 season.
Legacy is essentially the rebuild of Petty Enterprises, one of NASCAR’s oldest and winningest race teams. Gallagher, the chairman of Allegiant Air, owned GMS Racing and, in 2021, acquired Richard Petty Motorsports, rebranding it as Petty GMS Racing.
Johnson signed on at the end of 2022, and the team was again rebranded into Legacy as it expanded to two full-time Cup cars ahead of the 2023 season. The plan was to allow Johnson to grow into his role as NASCAR team owner over five seasons, but the timeline changed when he developed a relationship with Knighthead and Gallagher decided to step back.
“I’ve had an open eye to the private equity world and trying to understand what’s out there,” Johnson said. “I know that there are some other teams with PE involvement, and I just started to get to know people. I had a head start and a few friendships out there, but ultimately the opportunity and access to Knighthead and the friendship I built was done socially, and when it was time to really engage in the PE world, we just clicked and got together to see where we could go.
“We wanted to move quick. And here we are, it’s only been a couple of months, it’s been very, very quick.”
The partnership begins immediately, and Knighthead will be part of Legacy when the NASCAR season begins this weekend with the preseason race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem.
Tom Wagner, co-founder and co-managing member of Knighthead Capital, said the firm was drawn by “NASCAR’s rich history and Legacy MC’s ambition and innovation make it a unique opportunity.”
“We’re thrilled to collaborate … to drive the team forward, both on the track and within the wider racing community,” Wagner added.
Tom Brady has stakes in Knighthead but the deal with Legacy does not involve him at this time, Johnson said. But Johnson and Brady have discussed possibly partnering on an Indianapolis 500 entry for driver Sebastian Bourdais with Chip Ganassi Racing. Ganassi told the AP he had only one preliminary conversation with Johnson about it and there has been no further discussion.
Legacy this season will field two full-time cars: the No. 43 Toyota for Erik Jones and the No. 42 Toyota for John Hunter Nemechek. Johnson will attempt to qualify next month for the season-opening Daytona 500 and also the Coca-Cola 600 in May.
Johnson, who turns 50 in September, ran nine races last year but said he realized at the season-finale in Phoenix that Legacy needs him more in his executive role than as a driver.
He thanked Gallagher for the opportunity to become a NASCAR team owner and is eager to help Legacy improve its on-track performance while working with Knighthead to expand the brand.
“He has been an outstanding partner, mentor and friend, and I’m grateful we had the opportunity to work together,” Johnson said of Gallagher. “I’ve learned so much from him, and as his professional career takes a different path, he can worry less about being an owner and more about focusing on family and enjoying life.”
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — The Cubs are finalizing a trade to acquire closer Ryan Pressly from the Houston Astros, pending medical review, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Sunday.
Pressly will waive his no-trade clause to facilitate the move, and Houston will send money to help cover his $14 million salary, the sources said.
The Astros will receive a low-level Cubs prospect who is not on Chicago’s 40-man roster, according to a source.
Pressly, 36, is likely to become the Cubs’ closer, a role he held with Houston from 2021 to 2023 before it signed Josh Hader to a long-term contract. The veteran righty has 112 saves with a 3.27 ERA during his 12-year career, which includes six seasons in Minnesota.
Pressly will join a bullpen that blew 26 saves last season, as the Cubs are looking to make a playoff push in 2025. Chicago hasn’t been to the postseason since 2020, working without an established closer over the past few years.
Righty Adbert Alzolay was ineffective last season, then he suffered a forearm injury and eventually needed Tommy John surgery. Porter Hodge, 23, finished the season as the closer, but the team wanted more experience and depth in the back end of the bullpen.
The Cubs pursued lefty Tanner Scott before he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers last weekend, according to league sources. Chicago was less interested in the other free agent closers, instead settling for Pressly, who has one year left on a three-year, $42 million contract signed before the 2023 season.
Pressly will join newcomers Eli Morgan, Cody Poteet, Matt Festa, Caleb Thielbar and Rob Zastryzny in the Cubs’ bullpen.
The trade likely will conclude the bulk of the team’s winter moves.
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