Jett and Luisangel focused on infield positions as camp begins
PORT ST. LUCIE — Jett Williams and Luisangel Acuña arrived at Mets camp amid much fanfare this week. As two of the Mets’ top prospects and two of the most highly-touted prospects in baseball, fans were chanting their names and asking for autographs after they took batting practice.
If all goes well, they’ll be the faces of the franchise in the years to come, though based on the reception they received you’d think they were already lineup regulars. The duo may soon be turning double plays at Citi Field, but before that can happen the Mets have to figure out where to play them.
“I don’t really care,” Williams said Friday at Clover Park. “Whatever gets me the big leagues the fastest. I think that wherever they want to put me, I’ll play. If they want to put me third, short, second, center — I’ll play anything.”
Both are undersized, yet solid hitters, and both play either in the middle infield or center field. They’re also both blocked at the major league level, at least for a few years, by shortstop Francisco Lindor, second baseman Jeff McNeil and potentially infielder Ronny Mauricio.
So, for now, the Mets will have Williams focus on shortstop and center field, and Acuña focus on second base.
However, Williams has been in Port St. Lucie for a few weeks already, working out with Lindor on the minor league side and getting reps at second base. The Mets won’t use him at shortstop during spring training, but they wanted to expose him to the position early in case they decide to slide him over later in the season.
One of the Mets’ two first-round picks in 2022, Williams reached Double-A Binghamton in his first full season of professional baseball. He’s currently ranked as the 45th-best prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline and the Mets think he would be higher if it weren’t for his height (5-6).
“A huge credit to our amateur scouting department because a lot of people overlooked him since he’s 5-6 or 5-7 or whatever, but they did not,” Mets director of player development Andrew Christie recently told the Daily News. “They saw the sum of the parts on the actual player.”
Lindor isn’t about to cede his position in the middle infield and the Mets have shipped other top middle infield prospects elsewhere as a result of his 10-year contract, which begs the question of whether or not Williams will be one of the future faces of the Mets or a face of another club.
Last year, the Mets moved Mauricio to second base while playing in Triple-A and the hope was to use him at third this season before his knee injury eliminated that possibility. McNeil can be moved to the outfield, but the Mets see him as a second baseman. He has three more seasons left on his contract.
At the moment, there isn’t a reason to move Williams. The Mets are eager to see what he can do in his first major league camp.
“For me, what sticks out is his ability to slow the game down,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “He plays with poise. He’s got a very, very good understanding of the situation and for a player his age, he’s pretty advanced.”
Williams was named the club’s Minor League Player of the Year in 2023 after slashing .263/.425 OBP/.451 slugging across three levels. He stole 45 bases in 52 attempts (87% success rate) and hit 13 home runs. Mets officials have lauded his ability to command the strike zone and make contact. Williams might be short, but he’s strong and hits the ball hard.
“He makes a ton of contact and has elite-level swings,” Christie said. “Like he just will not extend the strike zone. He maximizes his contact and does not hit the ball on the ground very often.”
This year, Williams hopes to have even more pop in his bat, working to increase his bat speed and exit velocity in the offseason.
“I kind of think I hit to all parts of the field pretty well and I think I want to increase the exit velo to the opposite field,” Williams said.
While he’s only 20, he still thinks he can play well enough to receive a major league call-up this season, a goal he voiced at the end of last year. It’s a big goal for a player with an auxiliary locker, but Williams is that confident.
“If you do good, they’ll bring you up,” Williams said. “Honestly, I’m not a person to really worry about too much. I don’t really like to think about the future. I just kind of stay in the present, but for the most part, I’m excited for the season.”