For years, I’ve been complaining about how lucky the Braves are, how they get great performances from players who have no business delivering them. There are many examples throughout the years but the one that stands out is Adeiny Hechavarria. In a nine-year career in the majors, Hechavarria had 3,288 PA and a 76 OPS+. The Braves have a need in their middle infield and pick up Hechavarria, who had played earlier that season with the Mets and put up a 62 OPS+. So, what does he do when he joins the Braves? Why, he posts a 158 OPS+.
Well, this season the Mets are having some Braves-type luck with a couple of middle infielders of their own. Jose Iglesias has 4,043 PA in the majors with an 88 OPS+, does not play a game in the majors in 2023 yet has a 138 OPS+ here in 2024. And while he had a lull after an initial hot streak, Iglesias is turning it on here lately. In his last 69 PA, he’s slashing .409/.435/.515 for a .950 OPS. Yeah, it’s almost all BABIP. But with the club’s two starting middle infielders out with injuries, Iglesias is playing better than anyone had any right to expect. How very Braves like!
And that’s not even the biggest surprise.
Luisangel Acuna put up a .654 OPS in 587 PA in Triple-A this season. That’s uninspiring all by itself. But it gets noticeably worse when you realize that Syracuse as a team had a .768 OPS. The aforementioned injuries caused the Mets to promote Acuna for the stretch run. The hope was that he could field his position and maybe steal some bases.
So, what does he do? He goes full Hechavarria. In 33 PA, Acuna has a .375/.394/.781 line. The hits are falling in for him, for sure. But unlike Iglesias in his recent streak, Acuna is delivering power. Six of his 12 hits have gone for extra-bases.
And we’ve heard some outlandish explanations for his performance. With a straight face, people have said that Acuna was “bored” at Triple-A, that the level just wasn’t challenging enough for him. Maybe if he was the 1989 version of Edgar Martinez, who was sent to Calgary for the fourth season, we could see Acuna being bored. But this was his first time at Triple-A, after he put up a .622 OPS for the Mets’ Double-A affiliate the year before. If Acuna was bored – we should seriously question his commitment to the game.
Then we heard that the lights are better in the majors and Acuna was seeing the ball better. It’s likely that the lights are better. But – with my best vision pun – it’s not like there’s a night and day difference. These weren’t some 1970s ballparks he was playing in this year in the minors. All minor league parks have to meet minimum standards and there’s not a Triple-A team that you would describe their facilities as lacking professional lighting.
Sometimes, the simplest explanation is the right one. Players don’t perform within a narrow range of outcomes over their careers. Just like Hechavarria could play way, way over his head for the Braves in a small sample in 2019, Acuna is doing that for the Mets here in 2024.
We can enjoy what both Acuna and Iglesias are giving the Mets here in crunch time this season. We can be floored that it’s actually happening for our team, rather than against us. It’s very important to celebrate the wins in real time. And some of these “wins” are things that maybe we can expect to happen going forward, too.
Without a doubt, my look at things is to appreciate what these two have given the club the past two weeks or so. And that appreciation will last for however long their inspired play lasts. Yet it will be left up to you to determine how long these hot streaks can last. The optimists can say four more weeks. Let’s all be optimists!