Mets' Francisco Lindor still hurting but is optimistic that he'll return in 2024
Kodai Senga #34 of the Mets looks on from the dugout during the first inning against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field on Monday, Sep. 16, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Francisco Lindor said he doesn’t expect to be pain-free for the rest of the season. But the Mets’ shortstop, who missed his seventh straight game on Sunday night with a back injury, said he still is “optimistic” that he will be able to play again in 2024.
“I’m pretty sure I don’t think I’m going to play pain-free if I play this year,” Lindor said after the Mets’ 2-1 victory over the Phillies. “I don’t think it’s going to be pain-free. I’m OK with that. I just don’t want it to be a constant pain where I can’t bend over. And then I put my teammates in a position where I’m not helping them as much as I can. That’s not fair for anybody.”
The Mets are off on Monday, open a three-game series in Atlanta on Tuesday and end the regular season with three in Milwaukee. They had indicated that they were targeting Lindor’s return for Tuesday. That seems unlikely.
“It’s hard [to say],” he said. “I want to see how I wake up tomorrow, how I’ll bounce back tomorrow, and tomorrow I’ll continue to do more and more stuff, and then go from there.”
Carlos Mendoza had said Lindor was going to increase his baseball activities on Sunday, but Lindor actually did less on the field than he did on Saturday.
“I actually accomplished what I wanted to,” he said. “Every day I’m pushing it to the limit and today I hit that limit, and I just felt like that was enough. The goal is to come in every day and work as hard as I can to reach that limit that the trainers want.”
The Mets have gone 6-1 in Lindor’s absence. Rookie Luisangel Acuna, who went 1-for-3 on Sunday, is batting .379 as his replacement. But the Mets are hoping for a long October. Lindor is hoping he eventually can join the party.
“I’m definitely improving,” he said. “It’s just slower than what I would love it to be.”
Rotation turns
Mendoza announced after the game that Luis Severino, David Peterson and Sean Manaea will start in the series at Atlanta.
That allows Severino to be available to start Sunday if the Mets need to win the regular-season finale in Milwaukee.
The Mets are pushing back Jose Quintana, who last pitched on Wednesday and has a 22 2⁄3-inning scoreless streak.
Quintana has a 6.10 ERA in two starts against Atlanta this season. Peterson has a 7.20 ERA against Atlanta in one start this season.
Senga for postseason?
The Mets’ dream of having Kodai Senga return before the end of the regular season is over. Mendoza said on Sunday that Senga felt right triceps tightness during Saturday’s one-inning rehab outing for Triple-A Syracuse.
With six games left in the regular season, the Mets now have a new dream: that Senga will be able to pitch for them if they make the playoffs. “He felt like he could have continued to pitch [Saturday],” Mendoza said. “But he just wanted to play it safe. He’s going to continue to throw.”
Senga has made only one start in 2024. On Wednesday, he said through an interpreter: “I’ve been working my tail off and devoting all my time toward this. I know if this doesn’t go well, I’m just going to be in the dugout rooting for my teammates. So I need to make this work. With the team being in a really tight spot, a good position, I need to be at 100% to contribute. I don’t want to come back at anything less than 100% . . . Literally everything [in and on] my body, including my calf, including my shoulder and my elbow — everything needs to feel good.”
Mendoza, who said he hadn’t yet spoken to Senga about the new development when he met the media before Sunday night’s game, was asked if the righthander should just shut it down for 2024.
“He’s a competitor,” Mendoza said. “He knows that we are a better team if he’s healthy. He’s going to continue to push it. He’s going to continue to try everything that he can in his power to be available for us. If that doesn’t happen, then we do what we’ve got to do. But we’re going to listen to him. As of right now, he wants to continue.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
