It’s time for the Mets to consider calling up Luisangel Acuña

As Mets in the middle of the playoff race and with less than a month until the trade deadline, Much of the focus is on what the club can do to solve the problem.

Some serious inside help will come when Edwin Diazthe suspension ends on July 6 and Sean Reid-Foley returns from IL (as early as July 5).

But while most of the attention is on the bullpenthe Mets have a potential developing roster situation – and a very intriguing option that could be plugged.

With Mars Starling sidelined for at least a month with a knee injury, the Mets are setting up their starting camp by playing DJ Stewart or Tyron Taylor most days.

And at second base, it’s been the struggle Jeff McNeil getting most of the matches.

Taylor has had his moments, including hitting home runs against the Yankees and Astros last week, but has struggled for the most part.

In 63 games this season, Taylor has hit just .228/.276/.370. And he has especially struggled against lefties, slashing just .190/.217/.241 with zero home runs against them.

Meanwhile, Stewart hasn’t done much to build on the success he had last season.

His on-base percentage (.333) is decent, which is one reason why his OPS+ (97) is close to league average, but Stewart is batting just .333. He has five home runs in 60 games after hitting 11 in 58 games in 2023. Stewart has also been negative defensively in the outfield.

As reserve players, both Stewart and Taylor could be active. To begin? They could hurt a lineup that has been outstanding over the last month or so.

As for McNeil, he couldn’t contain the shock he delivered last Friday against the Astros, when he hit three times – including a missile of a three-run home run. He’s gone 1 for 10 since then.

Overall, McNeil is hitting a paltry .217/.276/.304 in 75 games this season.

Put it all together and it’s time to consider Luisangel Acuña as a possible addition to the lineup – whether that means sliding McNeil into the outfield regularly and seeing if he turns it around, or using McNeil as a backup infielder/outfielder. That second scenario would likely mean Stewart would be drafted by the minors.

After a very slow start to the season for Triple-A Syracuse – a start that has his overall numbers not looking so good – Acuña is on fire.

He called in May and is coming off a tremendous June.

In 24 games last month, Acuña hit .298/.348/.413.

Along the way, he had nine multi-hit games. And he hit safely in 15 of 16 games to close out the month.

Acuña’s strikeout rate was also impressive.

From June 12 to 30 – a period of 16 games – he only cheered eight times. For the season, Acuña’s strikeout rate is 16.5 percent. For reference, it was 18.0 percent last season for Double-A Binghamton, and 21.3 percent when he was in Double-A in the Rangers system in 2022.

Meanwhile, Acuña has stolen 26 sacks in 75 games this season after stealing 57 in 121 games last year.

The big question with Acuña is obvious: Do the Mets think he’s ready or do they need to see more of him at the Triple-A level to believe he’ll be able to adjust and handle big league pitching?

If the Mets think Acuña is ready to make the leap, now would be a good time to give him the first chance.