This is how Luisangel Acuña impressed as a replacement for Francisco Lindor

NEW YORK – The memory is still on Luisangel Acuña's bat, right below where his name is handwritten in black marker.

Less is more.

Those words landed on Acuña's bat a few weeks ago, before the New York Mets signed him out of Triple-A and before he began competently filling in for injured star shortstop Francisco Lindor during a playoff push.

This news helps Acuña relax. He is 22 years old. He is one of the club's most promising talents. The Mets acquired him last year in a trade with the Texas Rangers for Max Scherzer, a future Hall of Famer. His older brother is Ronald Acuña Jr., the Atlanta Braves' star outfielder and reigning National League MVP. The younger Acuña is desperate to be good. In Triple A, his coaches and rival scouts thought he was guilty of trying too hard.

That's why JP Arencibia, the manager of the Triple-A Syracuse team, wrote these words on Acuña's bat to remind him of everything they had been working on before each at-bat.

“That's what helped me in the end,” Acuña said in a recent interview through interpreter Alan Suriel. “I can keep that in mind and breathe.”

A few key adjustments accelerated Acuña's readiness for the major leagues. They help explain how he posted an unremarkable .654 OPS with seven home runs in 131 games at Syracuse and hit the ground running in his first week in the major leagues. On Thursday, Acuña became the first Mets player ever to hit a single, double, triple and home run in one at-bat in his first five games.

Recently, Acuña was able to alleviate some of his fears by working with Arencibia and one of the Mets' mental trainers.

But first came mechanical improvements in his swing and his club positioning before the pitch at the plate.

Acuña won't be confused with his brother, who is a few inches taller and has a few dozen pounds more muscle. But Acuña's stance, he said, has always resembled his brother's, if not completely. Hands low. Bat vertical. It worked fine for him – until he stumbled a few weeks into the Triple-A season.

Acuña's groundball rate increased while the quality of his contact decreased. He tended to charge forward, often lunging at balls and chopping them off. Arencibia, a former major league catcher who is bilingual, told Acuña, “Let's see your hands a little higher and your bat a little further back. Let's see how you feel.”

It clicked.

“When I started swinging like that,” Acuña said, “I felt comfortable.”

Acuña's stance and swing still draw comparisons to his brother, but the new differences are quite significant. Acuña now holds his bat more horizontally, with his hands higher. The change allows Acuña to get his bat through the strike zone sooner, resulting in better quality contact and the ability to lift the ball with power.

After correcting Acuña's swing angle, Arencibia also helped to resolve Acuña's overstretching issue. Once the mechanical issues were resolved, results began to improve. From April 23 through the end of June, Acuña posted a batting average of .286/.341/.399 with four home runs. After that time, however, Acuña began to struggle again, this time for different reasons.

“I could see the game getting faster for him at times,” Arencibia said.

Rival scouts love Acuña. He works hard, they say. But at the height of his problems, observers noticed a pattern: When Acuña, who rarely walks, failed to get a hit in his first at-bat, he was visibly nervous in his next at-bats, eager to make an impact. In particular, he chased more. When he was behind, the problem only got worse.

“When it was 0-2,” said Acuña, “I always jumped forward and was a bit too aggressive.”

Towards the end of the Triple-A season, Acuña began working with Maria Bogaert, one of the Mets' minor league mental coaches. During video calls with Bogaert and Arencibia, Acuña learned more about the connections between arousal, effort and performance. For example, sometimes getting too excited and trying too hard to force a result can prove counterproductive. Finding the ideal balance requires finding a sweet spot.

A ritual followed.

During batting practice that followed, Arencibia asked Acuña to self-assess his effort level after at-bats. Arencibia said, “On a scale of one to ten, what number are you at?” Usually, Acuña said, he finds himself exerting his maximum effort after foul balls. On thunderous line drives into the gaps in the outfield, he gave Arencibia a lower number: Siete.

Seven. Less than 10. Seven was good. Seven was better. In the Syracuse dugout, Arencibia Acuña instructed before every first pitch: “Siete.” The routine didn’t last long; soon after, the Mets called up Acuña.

Acuña's first six games with the Mets have been marked by several highlights. He has twice recorded a hit after trailing 2-0, one of those hits being a home run. After going hitless in his first three at-bats of the game on Thursday, he hit a triple. In 19 at-bats, Acuña has 8 of 19 hits.

Before Acuña came to the Major Leagues, Arencibia texted Mets manager Carlos Mendoza: “Make sure you tell him: ‘Siete.' It will make a difference if it comes from you.”

Less has led to more.

(Top photo by Luisangel Acuña: Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)