Francisco Lindor is putting together his best season as a member of the New York Mets. His offensive production and excellent work at shortstop have helped to keep New York in the playoff picture while making Lindor part of the NL MVP discussion.
However, the 10-year veteran isn’t interested in personal accolades at the moment. Lindor is focused on winning games down the stretch and reaching the postseason. “That’s ultimately what I came to New York to do and that’s win baseball games,” he told Mets field reporter Steve Gelbs after Tuesday’s game per SNY on X.
Lindor is most definitely helping the team win baseball games. He went 2-4 against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday with a double, a home run, three RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base.
On the season the 30-year-old switch hitter has 37 doubles, 30 homers, 84 RBI, 97 runs scored and 26 stolen bases. Lindor is slugging .500 with an .843 OPS and 6.2 bWAR in 2024. He leads the National League with 139 games played and 568 at bats.
Lindor has been on fire of late as the Mets attempt to reach the playoffs for the second time in the last eight years. He has a .362 average with six home runs, seven doubles, 12 RBI and 14 runs scored during a 14-game hitting streak, per ESPN’s game recap. He’s managed to get on base in 32 straight games.
Francisco Lindor is focused on the Mets making the playoffs
“Every time he's at the plate, there's a good feeling. He's locked in right now,” Mets’ manager Carlos Mendoza said via SNY on X.
Thanks in part to Lindor’s excellent plate performance, the Mets are 26-18 since returning from the All-Star break, good for the sixth-best record in baseball during that span. New York is 7.5 games behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. However the Mets are just half of a game behind the Atlanta Braves for the final NL Wild Card berth. The Arizona Diamondbacks have a 2.5 game lead over New York for the second spot.
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“Right now we’re playing good baseball and just trying to ride it as long as you can and continue to compete,” Lindor said per SNY.
The Mets acquired Lindor in a trade with the then Cleveland Indians prior to the start of the 2021 season. Since arriving in New York Lindor has been one of the best shortstops in the league. He finished top nine in MVP voting in 2022 and ‘23. Now he has back-to-back 30-homer seasons after going deep for the 30th time this year in Tuesday’s game.
While Shohei Ohtani’s incredible debut season with the Los Angeles Dodgers wrecks the chances of any other player taking home NL MVP honors this year, Lindor is certainly the Mets MVP. And if the team manages to make the postseason, they’ll have him to thank.
