Mets expect Francisco Lindor back this season 'as of right now'
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza and shortstop Francisco Lindor pose after Lindor received the Roberto Clemente Award on Thursday at Citi Field. Credit: Noah K. Murray
Francisco Lindor’s absence may well extend through the weekend.
As the rest of the Mets prepared Thursday evening for the opener of a key four-game series against the Phillies, Lindor remained in street clothes, chatting with team personnel and meeting with local youths about dental hygiene for his once-per-homestand good deed.
Lindor was lined up for a workout later — all indoors, minimal or zero actual baseball activity — and has been “slowly getting better,” manager Carlos Mendoza said.
But his back remains sore, so his absence remains indefinite. Thursday marked the fourth game in a row and the fifth time in six games that he sat out.
Do the Mets expect Lindor to return before the end of the regular season (next weekend)?
“As we sit here? I’m pretty confident. But . . .” Mendoza told Newsday, trailing off and not completing the thought. “As of right now, I’m confident.”
Given the unpredictable nature of back injuries, the Mets are hoping Lindor wakes up one of these days feeling much better.
“That’s what they keep telling us,” Mendoza said. “He should be turning a corner quickly. We’re still waiting.”
There is “a chance” Lindor plays against the Phillies, according to Mendoza. They will be at Citi Field through Sunday. That would seem to represent a downgrade from the previous Lindor-provided timeline of two to five days. Friday marks day five.
“So we’re still calling it day by day,” Mendoza said. “He’s not regressing.”
But it’s not clear that he’s progressing, either. On Wednesday, Lindor got on the field, running lightly and playing catch briefly. He did not do those things Thursday.
Mendoza was emphatic that Lindor’s status — and to what degree the Mets push him — will not be influenced by the standings amid this final week and a half of the regular season.
“No. When he’s ready to go, he’ll play, regardless of where we’re at in the schedule, in the standings,” Mendoza said. “If he’s a player for us, he’ll play. But if he can’t go, like I said, regardless of the situation, we’re not going to put him at risk.
“This is a guy who plays through pain; he’s done it a lot of times. But if he...gives the green light of ‘I can go’ without compromising some of the other body parts, then we’ll put him out there.”
Martinez keeps searching
J.D. Martinez entered Thursday mired in an ugly, confounding slump: 0-for-his-last-24 and just three hits in September.
“No one knows it more than me,” he said.
What began as a solid season deteriorated over the course of the summer. In June, for example, he batted .272 with an .874 OPS — a level of production that, had he joined the team at the outset of the season, would have made him an All-Star candidate.
But that dropped off to .235 and .684 in July, .217 and .729 in August and .083 and .286 through most of September.
Martinez’s back, a chronic issue in recent years, has not been a factor at all in this season, he and Mendoza said separately. He’s just off.
“I gotta fix my swing,” he said. “For me, it’s not the pitcher. If I feel good at the plate, I can hit anybody. If I feel bad at the plate, [coaching assistant Rafael Fernandez] is going to strike my [butt] out. [Traveling secretary] Edgar [Suero] will get me out. That’s it. That’s the game.”
Mendoza said: “he’s always going to be watching film, he’s always going to be tinkering with his mechanics. Hopefully it clicks tonight and he’s the hitter that we’ve seen in the past. He knows where we’re at. He knows where he’s at. And we’re going to need him.”
Extra bases
The Mets will roll with Tylor Megill on Sunday night against the Phillies. Mendoza previously was noncommittal to that in-turn assignment . . . Lindor was honored before the game as the Mets’ Roberto Clemente Award nominee . . . Mendoza said the Mets’ current double-play combo, rookie Luisangel Acuna and veteran Jose Iglesias, benefited from playing together in Triple-A Syracuse for the first couple of months of the season. “Knowing Iglesias as the veteran, he’s going to keep it simple. ‘Give me the ball wherever,’” Mendoza said. “He’s going to make [Acuna] feel comfortable. ‘Just catch the baseball and get it over to second base. I’ll do the rest.’”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
