Ronald Acuna Jr.'s brother continues to help bury Braves with Mets dominance

For a while, it seemed as though the Atlanta Braves had a secure enough hold on the third and final wild card spot in the NL. However, the New York Mets have gone berserk over the past few weeks. On Wednesday, they continued their incredible play with a rousing 10-0 win over the Washington Nationals to keep the Braves at bay with a two-game lead. And in a bit of a twist in the tale, it's Ronald Acuna Jr .'s younger brother, Luisangel, who has provided a spark for the Mets as of late.

Acquired from the Texas Rangers last year in the Max Scherzer trade, Acuna was only promoted to the Mets' big-league roster on September 14. But he has done nothing but rake ever since getting the call. In five games (15 plate appearances), Acuna has tallied seven hits , with two of those going out of the yard for a home run. Playing shortstop for the team, his contributions have been found money and the cherry on top considering that he's hitting from the ninth spot in the lineup.

Acuna has definitely played himself into a more prominent role in the Mets lineup. He's only starting for the team at shortstop thanks to Francisco Lindor's injury. The good news is that Lindor's injury doesn't appear to be anything that will last long-term, so the Mets will soon have a good problem to navigate when it comes to their middle infield.

Some may suggest that Acuna has done enough to take over second base on a full-time basis, but Jose Iglesias has been nothing short of brilliant for the Mets in 2024. Iglesias is putting up his best season at the plate, slashing .329/.377/.439, and he remains a solid fielder. He will not be easily displaced from the everyday lineup.

Whatever the case may be, it's certainly an interesting turn of events for the Mets to have one of the main returns of a trade that signaled their lack of confidence in their playoff hopes last season be the brother of the star of their division rival Braves and then be a catalyst behind the team's surge into a wild card spot.

Braves are sorely missing Ronald Acuna Jr.

Much has been made about the Braves' struggles to score runs in 2024. One major reasons behind their offense's crash down to earth has been the prolonged absence of 2023 NL MVP, Ronald Acuna Jr. Last season, Acuna went on a tear; he finished last season with 41 home runs 106 runs batted in, and 73 stolen bases. He also scored 149 runs — a monster tally. His contributions last season were worth 9.6 WAR, per Fangraphs.

However, the past two even years haven't been too kind to Acuna. In 2022, he only played in 119 games, and he posted a career-worst .764 OPS due to the injury woes he endured. And then in 2024, he hasn't played since May 26 after suffering an unfortunate season-ending knee injury .

Now, the Acuna household, at the very least, has some cause for celebration. Not only has Luisangel Acuna arrived in the big leagues, he has also genuinely been one of the most exciting young hitters in the league throughout his short stint thus far in the MLB. Of course, it will be hard for the Acuna household to decide which team to root for, with the Mets and Braves being each other's closest competitor for a playoff spot.

Maybe they're united in rooting against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks currently have the same record as the Mets do, so the Braves can make the playoffs at the same time as the Mets. That is certainly the best-case scenario for the parents of the Acuna brothers.