July 27th, 2024
Mike Lupica
@MikeLupicaIn a city where Aaron Judge and Juan Soto have been huge stars on a Yankees team suddenly going the wrong way, Francisco Lindor has been the biggest star on a Mets team that has been a rocket to the moon, 33-15 since they were 22-33 and in the first NL Wild Card position after passing the Braves in the standings with a win over Atlanta on Friday night. Lindor hasn’t just been the Mets’ most valuable player. He has been one of the most valuable players anywhere.
Lindor has also once again reminded people in this stretch that at his best -- and he has mostly been at his best for the Mets after a disappointing first season in New York in 2021 -- he is one of the most complete players in the game, a switch-hitting shortstop who can hit and hit for power and drive in runs and is a streak of light on the bases. A lot has happened for the Mets and with the Mets since the end of May. But Lindor has taken the lead, since Mets manager Carlos Mendoza moved him to the leadoff spot about the time that the Mets started their season all over again.
Two years ago Lindor was a shortstop who knocked in 107 runs for his team. Last season, even the way the Mets fell down after winning 101 games the year before, he hit 33 home runs had 98 RBIs (with 31 steals in 35 attempts). Now, since he went to the leadoff spot at the end of May, he has played as well as he has at any time in his career -- in Cleveland or in New York.
The headliner in the National League is still Shohei Ohtani, having the best season of his career as a hitter, and looking as if he might chase Aaron Judge all season long for the title of being the home run king of baseball in 2024. Lindor doesn’t have their numbers across the board, of course. Lindor’s average, because of a first two months during which he spent so much time below the Mendoza Line -- and that doesn’t mean his manager, Carlos Mendoza -- was still just .256 after the Mets' win over the Braves on Friday night. But anyone who has been paying close attention to what the Mets have been doing can appreciate not just Lindor’s numbers but his presence as well, on offense and defense and on the bases.
Judge and Soto are outfielders. Ohtani, in a season when he won’t pitch, is a DH. Lindor is a shortstop. Who is hitting the ball hard from both sides of the plate. Who has stolen 20 bases to go with his 22 homers. Who is acting as if his best might be yet to come if the next two months of the regular season are anything like the last two.
“He is showing everybody why he is one of the best players in baseball,” his manager said. “Nobody should be surprised by this.”
And here are some things Lindor’s former manager, Buck Showalter, said about someone he calls one of the favorite players he has ever managed:
• “He treats people the same way every time he walks through the door. You know why people take shots at him sometimes? Because he’s too good to be true.”
• “Nothing is beneath him. You never have to push him forward. If anything, [what] you have to do is pull him back occasionally.”
• “He takes it all on. He doesn’t run from it. And he’s gonna be in front of his locker afterwards, win or lose. Bottom line: If you don’t like him, you don’t like baseball.”
After Lindor hit two more home runs on Wednesday night and the Mets had pounded the Yankees, 12-3, he himself was asked a question about his team beating the team from across town.
“I like winning,” he said.
The Mets were losing the way they were by the end of May and his batting average was still .197 on May 21. Now you watch him go and you watch them go. A team that wasn’t scaring anybody the first two months of the season is now scaring everybody. On Friday night against the Braves, they were losing, 2-0, and then J.D. Martinez hit a grand slam, Mark Vientos hit a two-run shot before Francisco Alvarez tried to hit one out of New York City, and just like that it was 7-2 Mets. On June 3, the Mets were 10 games behind the Braves and now were about to pass them.
So many good things have happened, at least before Kodai Senga, their ace, limped off the field with a left calf injury in what had been a dazzling season debut before that. Brandon Nimmo became a different hitter after he moved out of the leadoff spot. Martinez showed up and made the middle of the order better. Alvarez came back hot after two months on the IL. Vientos had 14 homers through Friday night. And Jeff McNeil has started to look like the guy who won a batting title two years ago. And Jose Iglesias came out of the Minors and started hitting and hasn’t stopped. All that.
But nothing has been more important to his Mets surge than the way Lindor has been playing. The Yankees have their two stars. Lindor has reminded everybody that the Mets have one of their own.
