Above All, Mets Need Consistency from Francisco Lindor
Rollercoasters are fine. But please, in moderation...
Image credit: Chris Simon
The Mets and Francisco Lindor are soldered together and will be for a while. Not just contractually, but in terms of their individual and collective successes. Legacies are at stake on both sides of the table.
When New York shelled out a third-of-a-billion dollars to secure Lindor’s services, they knew what they were getting: an MVP-caliber player who’d hit a downturn since his unquestionably elite peak with Cleveland.
Now a season and a half into his Flushing tenure, sure, we’ve seen the high-end Lindor show up. But it would sure be nice of him to stick around for a while.
When he’s on, Lindor is tremendous. A game-changer in every way. Even when he’s not red-hot, he’s still an above-average ballplayer. Unfortunately, the Mets don’t need (or pay) Lindor to be just an above-average player. They locked him into their long-term future to be a cornerstone of consistent production and clubhouse leadership. He’s currently hitting .500 on that ledger.
It’s certainly possible that the pressure of being the guy may have crept into Lindor’s confidence reserves last season. Heck, something had to be up. Yes, his production improved considerably once he returned from the oblique injury, which was terrific to see. As was the roaring start Lindor got off to this season.
To their credit, the Mets have worked diligently to upgrade their roster considerably with the additions of Starling Marte, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escobar to an already solid offensive core, presumably to alleviate some of the burdens that Lindor may or may not have succumbed to last year.
At times, it’s worked out beautifully. A 50-31 record is proof-positive of that. But Lindor carrying a .745 OPS into the second half of the season is miles from ideal, especially considering the funk this offense has found themselves in as of late (.243/.304/.376, 98 wRC+ since June 1; .680 OPS over that span, 25th in MLB) and the sparkplug-like characteristics Lindor possesses when he is right.
Lindor’s mercurial tendencies at the plate mixed with a fractured finger suffered in his Los Angeles hotel last month have kept him from truly taking off. Putting up his lowest hard-hit rate since 2017 and highest whiff rate of his career probably hasn’t helped things, either.
From the start of the Dodgers series on June 3 through the first game of the Houston series on June 21, Lindor hit .174/.230/.319 (74 PA). A three-game multi-hit streak emerged from that mess but was quickly dashed by his current 5-for-26 slide as the Mets close things out in Cincinnati.
At this current juncture — the Mets enter Wednesday with a 2.5-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East — an extended outburst would do everyone well.
Despite all the ups and downs, this team still sits among the offensive league leaders, virtually across the board (seventh in runs scored, fourth in batting average, sixth in wRC+). Nothing in this game occurs in a vacuum. This is a talented team with World Series potential. We’ve seen as much.
Peaks and valleys. Onward.
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So true! Both Alonso and Lindor have been very quiet for the past few weeks. It's hurt, especially with so little production from 3B and DH on a daily basis. When this team slumps they are still a better than .500 team so at least there's that.