As many continue fretting about Francisco Lindor’s batting average — which is also trending upward — the Mets’ indefatigable shortstop has shown up to the ballpark every single day and reclaimed his spot as one of the best all-around players in baseball.
Lindor finally gets a break on Thursday, as a Mets’ off day is the only thing that can keep him off the field. Playing virtually without any rest, something that manager Buck Showalter is very fond of reminding people about, Lindor has posted the fourth-most Wins Above Replacement of any position player in the league.
With offensive production that’s 32% better than the average player, clockwork defense at the diamond’s most important position and sneaky good base running, Lindor ranks behind the Cardinals’ corner infield duo of Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt for the crown of most valuable player in the league. It will almost certainly not lead to the actual award for Most Valuable Player, but Lindor deserves much more MVP buzz than he’s currently getting.
That’s fine with Lindor, who called breaking Jose Reyes’ single-season club record for RBI by a shortstop “a blessing” and “cool” before seamlessly transitioning into a reminder that the ultimate goal is to win the World Series. Despite having the third-highest WAR since his debut season in 2015 (trailing Mike Trout and Mookie Betts), Lindor is yet to finish higher than fifth in MVP voting. He’s never had a bad year, per se, but last year is one that he’d definitely take a mulligan on.
Because of his typically great defensive work, Lindor’s .230/.322/.412 slash line in 2021 didn’t totally sink his overall season, but as the Mets disintegrated in the second half and he dealt with a right oblique injury, the overall vibe was not what anybody wanted. Now in his second year playing under the bright lights of the New York market, Lindor was asked on Wednesday if simply having more experience with the Big Apple has helped prop his numbers back up.
“It’s something to do with that,” he conceded. “But, it’s [also] learning from the guys and the coaching staff. Feeding off the energy the crowd brings helps, too.”
Those things, obviously, go hand in hand. The crowd brings a much better energy when the Mets are winning over two-thirds of their home games, something they’ve done so far in 2022. It also helps to not actively alienate them with poorly thought-out thumbs down gestures and bizarre stories about a fight in the tunnel actually being an argument over rats and raccoons.
With the Mets where they’re at now, challenging for king of the hill status in not just the National League, but all of Major League Baseball, those self-inflicted headaches from last year feel like they happened on a completely different planet. Showalter has been a very necessary adult in the room, the sort of parent who lets the kids have fun so long as they do their chores, but the new additions in the lineup and pitching staff have transformed the culture too.
It’s hard to imagine a team with Max Scherzer on it pulling the childish hijinks the Mets were doing last season. Starling Marte and Mark Canha raised the collective floor of the batting order, just as Chris Bassitt did for the starting rotation. Within the last few weeks, there’s also the undisputed champion of Citi Field, the designated hitter who reportedly told Scherzer that he hits home runs in bunches, just like he gets his donuts.
Daniel Vogelbach has been a perfect fit, both in the middle of the lineup and in the clubhouse. Tyler Naquin is quickly getting acclimated too, collecting more extra base hits (seven) than singles (four) in his first 10 games with the team.
“I’m happy they’re here,” Lindor said of the players that general manager Billy Eppler copped at the trade deadline. “The front office did an amazing job of bringing the right group of guys that are going to fit in.”
The team, at least on the position player side, still runs through Lindor though. Pete Alonso has been outstanding, and the leap that Brandon Nimmo has made this season could make a kangaroo jealous. But as the captain of the infield, entrenched in the third spot of the lineup, making the most money of any hitter on the team, Lindor is the man. He’s credited the internal communication within the team as one of the reasons for his batting average jumping 40 points from last year to this one, as well as his own habit of taking meticulous notes and crushing film of opposing pitchers.
“I learned that at an early stage in my career,” Lindor said after taking down the Reds on Wednesday. “I saw Andrew Miller took notes and watched the batters that he was going to face, and that he’d faced in previous times. I asked him why he was doing that, and he said he had to study and had to prepare himself to be the best he could be, and not just roll the dice every time he went out there. I took that to heart.”
These Mets are a veteran team, devoid of any player that needs to be coddled or placed under an older player’s wing. Among the nine position players who have made the most plate appearances, the 27-year-old Alonso (born Dec. 7, 1994) is the youngest. Because of that, Lindor doesn’t need to take on that Miller role and explain how to be professional. But, if the Mets are still flying high in October, they’ll certainly heap some praise on the switch-hitting shortstop who piloted them the whole way.
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