As every fan remembers, the White Sox acquired Luisangel Acuna from the New York Mets during the off-season, in exchange for the oft-injured center fielder, Luis Robert Jr.
I was not unhappy to see Robert get traded. He under-performed in 2024 and 2025, and a fresh start seemed like a potential benefit for him, the White Sox, and the Mets.
But it was hard to be satisfied with the return. Acuna had just a 65 wRC+ across 95 games with the Mets in 2025, and he hit just 234/.293/.274. It's hard to get hyped up about a player who can't break .300 on any part of his slash-line. He'd even struggled somewhat in the minors--while in the Mets minor league system, not finishing any level with a wRC+ of 100 or above.
When the White Sox decided Acuna would play center field, I was even more skeptical. He'd only played there once in 2025, and his natural positions were second base and shortstop. But Acuna made the White Sox Opening Day roster as the starting center fielder. The team seemed seemed convinced that he had untapped potential, and they wanted him in everyday role until he could prove it. I got a chance to see him play some Triple-A games back in 2024, and he seemed good, but I was convinced he was more of a speed/glove guy rather than an everyday hitter. And he was properly an infielder, not a center fielder.
In early 2026, The Sox experiment with Acuna went as expected. He played 24 out of 29 games in March and April, posting a .181 average. His only extra-base hit was a double. He was a poor defensive player, too--Fangraphs had him with -2 OAA and -1 DRS in center field.
Fans started to lose patience with him, and it was hard to disagree. By May, Acuna had started losing playing time to future All-Star Tristan Peters. Peters was performing much better than expected with both his bat and glove, and it was hard to justify playing Acuna, even in a platoon. He played just 13 games that month, with just four hits, and it looked like he'd fallen into obscurity. He managed to stick on the roster due to his speed and baserunning, but I was half-expecting to see him get DFA'd while the Sox worked through their surplus of outfielders.
Luisangel Acuna's season completely turned around in June
Just two months later, Acuna has had a low-profile, but no less admirable, turnaround. Rather than using him as an everyday outfielder, the White Sox have used him in a bench role. So far he's only played 24 games in June and July, but he has a stunning .420 batting average in that span.
He's been primarily been a shortstop rather than a center fielder, and he's done much better at his natural position. Per Fangraphs, he has a +1 OAA and +2 FRV at short. It's impossible to know if the position change has affected his bat, but he has a .284 BA as a shortstop for the season. This has given him a more valuable role for the White Sox, too. They have a lot of outfielders, with four listed on starting roster plus their designated hitters, Ryan Grichuk and Andrew Benintnedi, who are both natural outfielders as well. Jacob Gonzalez was their backup infielder, but now that they've traded him to the Pirates, Acuna is their lone substitute infielder.
Earlier this season, Acuna looked like a Quad-A player. I'm not sure he's in-line for an everyday role just yet, but he's starting to show off the potential that made him such as an appealing prospect in the first place. I'm interested to see what's next for him. Maybe the White Sox will keep him as super-utility player, where he'll have a chance to earn playing time if he keeps plating well. Otherwise, he could be a trade chip, and he could potentially get a starting role in another organization. The Sox starting infield is pretty set, but there are other teams that might need a long-term second baseman or shortstop. Even if Acuna's lone role is a pinch-runner and defensive replacement, he provides enough value to make himself a player worth keeping on the roster. Any amount that he hits is just icing on the cake.
Baseball rewards players who perform, and Luisangel Acuna is getting harder and harder to overlook.
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