2024-03-03 19:59:38
JUPITER, Florida — Francisco Lindor, who played injured last season and still saw action in almost every Mets game, was already in the batting cage at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium before the team bus from Port St. Lucie pulled up next to the visitors clubhouse. As is always the case with Lindor, at 10:30 in the morning, there was an air around him as if he were a kid getting ready for his first Little League game. A boy who just turned 30 years old.
Lindor is the shortstop and switch-hitter who ended up playing 160 games for the Mets last season with almost 700 at-bats, in which he hit 31 home runs, stole 31 bases, scored 108 runs and drove in 98. The 2023 Mets were a disappointment. Everybody knows. But Lindor certainly wasn’t.
The Puerto Rican signed a 10-year, $341 million contract with the Mets a couple of years ago. Last season, you could see how he fully accepted the responsibilities that come with such a contract, as he had almost 100 RBIs and achieved the club’s sixth 30-30 season, despite playing with a bone spur in his right elbow that was Surgically removed after the season.
At that point, as he briefly addressed the clubhouse before continuing onto the field for batting practice with the rest of the Mets who had arrived from Port St. Lucie, he was asked if he believes that at this point in his career his best baseball could still be coming. Lindor’s face, which so often and so famously breaks into a smile when he is on the field, suddenly turned serious when he stopped to answer the question.
“100 percent,” he said. “Hundred percent”.
Lindor then mentioned some current players who have been recognized as MVPs after turning 30. Aaron Judge did it with the Yankees in 2022. Freddie Freeman did it with the Braves in 2020. Paul Goldschmidt turned 35 a month before being named MVP of the National League two years ago.
“I see players like that,” said Lindor, always a student of the game. “I see the way many play at a high level after they turn 30. That’s why I keep learning, I keep working and I still want to be there for my team every day I can.”
For inspiration, just look to the other side of the infield toward first baseman Pete Alonso. Alonso was hit by a pitch (you may have heard the Mets get hit a lot) on his left wrist last season. He would end up missing eight games total during the year. It was a lot for Alonso. He debuted in the Major Leagues in 2019. Since then, he has missed a total of 24 games.
Even in a difficult year for the Mets, Lindor finished ninth in MVP voting, the same as the year before when the Mets won 101 games and he hit 26 homers and drove in 107 runs. He has every right to believe that his best performance might actually be ahead of him. He is about to begin his tenth season in the Major Leagues. He drove in more than 100 runs for the first time in his eighth year, then almost did it again in 2023. And he’s still a flash of light on the bases and on defense.
Really, the only shortstop demonstrably better than Lindor last year – even if he was lost in the Mets’ sometimes scandalous misfortune – was Corey Seager. But as great as Seager was, he missed 43 games for the Rangers. Lindor missed two. And the Puerto Rican had a much better year than you think. And he has been exactly the player the Mets thought they were acquiring.
“New York feels like home now,” Lindor said outside the Mets clubhouse.
“I continue to appreciate my teammates, and my time in New York, and the opportunity I’ve been given.”
He smiled a Lindor smile, his baseball day about to begin in earnest as soon as he was on the field.
“I’m still a kid from Puerto Rico living my dream,” Lindor said. “Who would want to take a day off from doing that?”
You’re right, of course. Hundred. By. Hundred.
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