If there was a bright spot for the Mets in this week’s back-to-back blown-lead losses to the Atlanta Braves, it was Francisco Lindor.
The shortstop showed signs of breaking out, going a combined 5-for-7 with a home run, two walks, four runs and a stolen base in Wednesday and Thursday’s games at Citi Field.
“I’m getting the barrel to the baseball,” Lindor said after Thursday’s 4-3 defeat. “It’s obvious, but it’s the reality.”
Thursday’s 3-for-4 performance capped a three-game series in which Lindor finished 6-for-11 and scored five times.
He went hitless in the five games before those, continuing what’s been an uneven season for last year’s National League MVP runner-up.
Lindor’s overall numbers — 22 home runs, 65 RBI and 19 steals going into Friday — are strong, and he was the NL’s starting shortstop in last month’s All-Star Game.
But Lindor entered Friday night’s series opener against the Seattle Mariners in Queens with a .214 average, eight home runs and a .652 OPS in the 59 games since June 4, which was the day he suffered a broken right pinky toe when he was hit by a pitch.
In the 60 games before then, Lindor batted .284 with 14 home runs and an .854 OPS.
“I have guys like [Eric] Chavez, Jeremy [Barnes], Rafa [Fernandez], talking to me on a daily basis,” Lindor said, referring to three of the Mets’ coaches. “There’s a lot of people in the hitting group that are fighting for me and want it for me. I’m on an up right now. I’ll try to ride that wave as long as I can and stay true to myself.”
Lindor, 31, has continued to play since the toe injury, sitting out of only two games all season, and he’s never used it as an excuse.
Despite a recent 0-for-21 skid — which he snapped with a bunt single in Tuesday’s 13-5 win over Atlanta — Lindor entered Friday hitting .283 with an .878 OPS in August. Those represented his best numbers in a month since April.
“He’s always making adjustments,” manager Carlos Mendoza said after Thursday’s loss, which was the Mets’ 13th out of 15 games. “This is a guy that works as hard as anybody, and every day he’s out there hitting early, and he’s in the cages. They’re always tinkering with their swings. I think he’s just getting the feel for it.”
Wednesday and Thursday marked Lindor’s first back-to-back multi-hit games since July 23-25.
Mendoza was encouraged by Lindor’s approach on Thursday, when the switch-hitter drilled a 409-foot homer against right-hander Bryce Elder to right-center; struck a single to left field against Elder; and added an infield hit from the right side against lefty reliever Dylan Lee.
Lindor also stole second base, advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Drake Baldwin and scored on Brandon Nimmo’s sacrifice fly to spark a two-run rally in the sixth inning.
“When he’s at his best, it’s kind of what we saw [on Thursday],” Mendoza said. “Pull-side with authority, and then he hits a line drive the other way. The takes. He’s walking. That’s very positive right there, Lindor showing signs now. That’s gonna be important for us.”
