Francisco Lindor reaches 1,500-hit milestone in Mets' win over Marlins
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor gestures after his single against the Miami Marlins during the fifth inning of an MLB game at Citi Field on Monday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Francisco Lindor, the Mets’ tone-setter in the clubhouse and the table-setter at the top of the lineup, did it again Monday.
For a fourth game in a row, a 2-0 win over the Marlins, he led off the bottom of the first inning with a hit.
By the end of the cold night, Lindor owned a 3-for-4 line. His effort included scoring the go-ahead run after a bunt single in the third and picking up the 1,500th hit of his career with a single in the fifth.
“It’s special. It’s definitely special. I’m blessed to be in the position I’m in,” Lindor said of the milestone. “I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by a lot of good coaches, a lot of good hitting coaches, a lot of teammates who helped me and gave me good scouting reports and helped me be successful. So I’m very appreciative of the moment and everybody who has contributed to my journey.”
Lindor’s latest round number offered an opportunity to wonder: Might the Hall of Fame be in his future?
He described such an eventual outcome as “still far-fetched,” given how much he is looking to accomplish in the coming seasons. He also cited the cases of Carlos Beltran, long a mentor and friend, and Jimmy Rollins, one of the preeminent shortstops from the generation before Lindor. Despite standout resumes, neither has gained election to Cooperstown.
Lindor nonetheless is riding what reasonably could be framed as a Hall of Fame track through the first decade of his career. How he fares in the back half — including the last seven years of his guaranteed contract with the Mets — will determine his fate.
“I would love to be there one day,” Lindor said. “It would be one of the biggest honors — if not the biggest honor — in my career. But I still have a long way to go. I put my head down and work as hard as I can for however many years God is going to give me in this game.”
After the game, Lindor autographed the bat he used for No. 1,500 and gave it to Ethan Wilson, a longtime Mets public relations official, inscribed with a message: “Thank you for caring so much.”
“He’s a very special player,” said Wilson, noting that the gift was completely out of the blue.
The most telling piece of Lindor’s latest hit, in the view of manager Carlos Mendoza: It was a line drive to the opposite field.
Earlier in the game, Lindor dropped down a bunt toward a wide-open third base. He scored easily on Juan Soto’s double to left-centerfield.
“When he’s doing that [shooting line drives the other way], that’s when you know that he’s getting there, he’s getting close,” Mendoza said. “And when it’s early like this, conditions like that, if they’re going to give him a hit, for him to take it [with a bunt], that’s going to continue to build his confidence. Not that he needs to.”
Righthander Kodai Senga scattered five hits and two walks in five innings. He also induced two double-play ground balls that helped keep his pitch count down. Mendoza pulled him after 77 pitches, the third outing in a row — including his final preseason tune-up — in which he threw about that many.
With closer Edwin Diaz unavailable, having pitched the previous two days, Ryne Stanek handled the ninth. He became the third Mets reliever to record a save in the first 10 games of the season, joining Diaz and Huascar Brazoban.
The Mets (7-3) have won five consecutive games. The past three have come via a total of seven runs.
“The weather sucks, but you gotta make the best out of it,” Lindor said. “This month, you gotta grind. It’s cold. It’s not fun. But you gotta get it done. To be able to win games, close games, it says a lot about our pitching staff, a lot about our defense, our hitting, today our baserunning.”
Notes & quotes: Marlins-Mets on Tuesday will be at 4:10 p.m., the Mets announced, moved up from the originally scheduled 7:10 p.m. because of weather. Temperatures are supposed to dip into the 30s . . . Reliever Dedniel Nunez is eligible to return to the major leagues this week, but the Mets have not decided when they will call him up, David Stearns said . . . Because bad weather has prevented the Mets from doing on-field pregame activity in recent days, they might send Jeff McNeil (right oblique strain) and Francisco Alvarez (hand surgery) back to Florida, Mendoza said. Both players need to take batting practice and do other baseball activities on the field to continue their rehab.
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.
