Connect with us

Published

on

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.”

Continue Reading

Sports

SEC outlines discipline for fake injury ‘nonsense’

Published

on

By

SEC outlines discipline for fake injury 'nonsense'

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey sent a memo Friday to league athletic directors and head football coaches outlining punishment if players continue to fake injuries in games.

“As plainly as it can be stated: Stop any and all activity related to faking injuries to create time-outs,” Sankey wrote in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN.

He ended the memo by writing: “Play football and stop the feigned injury nonsense.”

Increasingly over the past few years, coaches have repeatedly accused opposing teams and coaches of faking injuries to disrupt the rhythm and flow of offenses, especially those that are up-tempo and rarely huddle. Broadcasters have pointed out several obvious cases this season when players flopped to the ground near the sideline claiming to be injured just as the opposing offense was about to snap the ball.

Each play where a fake injury might have occurred must be submitted to the SEC for review. Steve Shaw, the national coordinator of football officiating, will determine what constitutes a fake injury. According to Sankey’s memo, those guidelines will range from Shaw determining that a feigned injury has occurred, that it is more likely than not that a feigned injury has occurred, that a player attempted to feign an injury or any other general statement from Shaw establishing the probability of a feigned injury.

Sankey wrote that creating injury timeouts, on offense or defense, is “not acceptable and is disrespectful to the game of football.”

Punishments laid out in Sankey’s memo include the following: for the first offense, a head coach receives a public reprimand and a $50,000 fine; for the second offense, another reprimand and a $100,000 fine; for a third offense, another reprimand and the coach will be suspended for his program’s next game.

Any staff member found to be involved in signaling or directing a player to feign an injury will face the same measures, including financial penalties and a suspension. A player cited for feigning an injury also may be subject to a public reprimand.

Sankey told reporters a few weeks ago at the Oklahoma-Texas game that he was concerned about the growing accusations of faking injuries.

“If somebody’s injured, we need to take that seriously,” Sankey said. “But creating the questions — and I mean this all across the country — needs to stop.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Sources: Top Michigan CB Johnson out vs. Oregon

Published

on

By

Sources: Top Michigan CB Johnson out vs. Oregon

All-American Michigan cornerback Will Johnson is out against No. 1 Oregon on Saturday, sources confirmed to ESPN, leaving the Wolverines without their top defensive player.

Johnson left the Illinois game on Oct. 19 with a lower-body injury and missed the Michigan State game last week. He’s still recovering from that lower-body injury, and his timeline to return is uncertain.

Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said this week that Johnson is expected back at some point this season “for sure” but didn’t specify when.

Johnson is considered the top cornerback prospect for the upcoming NFL draft. He has delivered two pick-sixes this year for the Wolverines, returning interceptions 86 yards against Fresno State and 42 yards against USC.

Last season, he snagged four interceptions for the Wolverines and earned defensive MVP honors for the 2023 national championship game.

247 Sports first reported Johnson’s expected absence.

Continue Reading

Sports

Baffert’s horses 1-2 in Breeders’ Cup Juvenile

Published

on

By

Baffert's horses 1-2 in Breeders' Cup Juvenile

DEL MAR, Calif. — Citizen Bull won the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by 1½ lengths and Gaming was second at Del Mar on Friday, giving Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a 1-2 finish and his record sixth career victory in the race for 2-year-olds.

Ridden by Martin Garcia, Citizen Bull ran 1¹⁄₁₆ miles in 1:43.07. He paid $33.80 at 15-1 odds.

Citizen Bull earned 30 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, where Baffert will return next year for the first time since 2021. His three-year ban by Churchill Downs ended in July.

Gaming was the 6-1 third choice. Baffert’s other entry, Getaway Car, named for the Taylor Swift song, finished fourth at 25-1 odds.

“It’s exciting when your horses show up,” Baffert said. “I was hoping they’d run 1-2-3.”

It was Baffert’s 19th career Cup win and he broke a tie with D. Wayne Lukas for most Juvenile victories. Jockey Martin Garcia earned his fifth career Cup win.

“He always comes through. He’s a big-time rider,” Baffert said of Garcia. “He told me, ‘I’m going to win it.'”

East Avenue, the 8-5 favorite, stumbled out of the starting gate and nearly went down to his knees. He finished ninth in the 10-horse field. Chancer McPatrick, the 5-2 second choice, lost for the first time in four career starts and was sixth.

Racing resumes Saturday with nine Cup races, highlighted by the $7 million Classic.

In other races:

– Immersive won the $2 million Juvenile Fillies by 4½ lengths, giving trainer Brad Cox at least one Cup win in each of the past seven years. Ridden by Manny Cox, Immersive ran 1¹⁄₁₆ miles in 1:44.36 to remain undefeated. Sent off as the 2-1 favorite, she paid $6 to win.

– Lake Victoria overcame a challenging trip to win the $2 million Juvenile Fillies Turf by 1¼ lengths. The 2-year-old filly ran 1 mile in 1:34.28 and paid $3.40 as the 3-5 favorite. Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien and jockey Ryan Moore earned the win.

– Magnum Force rallied to overtake leader Governor Sam and win the $1 million Juvenile Turf Sprint by a quarter-length. The 12-1 shot ran five furlongs in 56.36 seconds and paid $27 to win. Irish trainer Ger Lyons and jockey Colin Keane earned their first Cup victories. Governor Sam, co-owned by Houston Astros free agent Alex Bregman, finished third.

– Henri Matisse won the $1 million Juvenile Turf, with Moore and O’Brien teaming for their second win of the day. Moore won his 16th career Cup race. It was O’Brien’s 20th career Cup win and seventh in the race. Sent off as the 7-2 favorite, Henri Matisse ran 1 mile in 1:34.48. Iron Man Cal was second and Aomori City third. There was a lengthy steward’s inquiry involving New Century, who finished fourth, and Dream On, who was fifth, but there was no change to the order of finish.

Continue Reading

Trending