Big night, on and off the field, for Mets and All-Star starting shortstop Francisco Lindor
Francisco Lindor of the Mets reacts after his second-inning home run against Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers in the second game of a doubleheader at Citi Field on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Mets needed this. Mets fans needed this. Francisco Lindor needed this.
The events of Wednesday night do not mean the Mets’ shortstop is out of his recent funk, one that contributed to the team’s 3-14 swoon that lasted through Wednesday afternoon.
But they were hopeful signs as the Mets won the night game of a split doubleheader against the Brewers at Citi Field, 7-3.
This was after the Mets had lost the day game, 7-2, and manager Carlos Mendoza moved Lindor out of the leadoff position to the No. 2 spot for the nightcap. He also made him the designated hitter.
These were both newsworthy events. The last time Lindor did not bat leadoff was on May 17, 2024. And he has had only 17 career games as a DH.
Then stuff started happening in rapid succession.
Shortly after 7 p.m., Lindor was named the starting shortstop for the National League in the All-Star Game, the first time in nine years a Met had gotten in via fan voting.
He joined Bud Harrelson and Jose Reyes as the only Mets shortstops so honored.
Shortly after 7:10, Lindor flied out sharply to centerfield, extending his hitless streak to 18 at-bats.
Shortly before 8, he followed a grand slam by leadoff hitter Brandon Nimmo with a 379-foot solo home run of his own, and the Mets had a 5-0 lead.
It came against hard-throwing Brewers phenom Jacob Misiorowski and landed in the Mets’ bullpen. “He has a crazy future ahead of him,” Lindor said of Misiorowski.
Lindor was hit by a pitch in his third at-bat. In his fourth, he singled to drive home Ronny Mauricio in the sixth inning to make it 6-3 after Milwaukee had pulled within two runs.
He capped off his big game in the bottom of the eighth, when he doubled into the rightfield corner with two out to score pinch runner Travis Jankowski (from Stony Brook) and give the Mets a 7-3 lead.
Lindor even made an appearance at shortstop for the ninth inning.
All in all, not a bad night for a vital cog in a Mets machine that has been sputtering of late.
When it was over, Lindor thanked fans for electing him to the All-Star Game and said he had called his wife, sister, mother and father with the news.
“I was extremely happy and proud and ecstatic,” he said.
As for the switch from leadoff to No. 2 hitter, Lindor said it was fine with him if it helped the team.
Mendoza said the motivation was not to get Lindor going at the plate but rather a strategic move related to the Brewers having two good lefthanders in their bullpen. He wanted to break up lefties Nimmo and Juan Soto in the lineup.
It succeeded spectacularly.
“When (moves) don’t work, it’s on me,” Mendoza said. “When they work, it’s on the players.”
Lindor said he was far more out of sorts about being a DH than about batting second. He said he tried to simulate shortstop moves when the Mets were in the field rather than take extra swings.
But the role seems to suit him well. In his 17 games as a DH, he is batting .391 with eight home runs and 17 RBIs.
After the day game, Mendoza said Lindor was far from the only Met scuffling. But he did acknowledge Lindor means more than most.
“We know how important he is,” the manager said. “We know that when he’s going (well), it’s a lot easier for a lot of other guys behind him. But it’s hard to put all the pressure on him, understanding that they’re human.
“They’re really good players, and they’re going to struggle at times. Right now, he’s going through one of those stretches.”
Lindor entered the night game batting .255 with 16 home runs, 43 RBIs and 51 runs scored.
Asked to assess his season overall, Lindor said, “It’s been good, but there’s definitely a lot of room for improvement. . . . My downs have been a little longer in June. I would like to see that the downs are not as low. I just have to be consistent.”
It is difficult to imagine the Mets fully righting themselves without Lindor playing like Lindor. Maybe Wednesday night was the start of something significant. The Mets had best hope so.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
