New Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor not a fan of infield shifts
Mets manager Luis Rojas (left) and shortstop Francisco Lindor (right) during a spring training workout on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021, in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Something to keep an eye on when the Mets start playing games: Shortstop Francisco Lindor, their marquee offseason addition and a two-time Gold Glover, does not like defensive shifts.
"Let me do me. I’ll die with my instincts," Lindor said Monday. "I get really mad when I miss a ball because they were telling me to move the other way. It just drives me nuts. But if it’s my instincts and I go for the ball and I miss it, I die with it. All right, that’s fine."
Like every team in recent years, the Mets increasingly have deployed defensive shifts — including, for example, putting three infielders on one side of the infield — based on opposing hitters’ batted-ball data.
In 2020, the Mets and Lindor’s former team, Cleveland, were among the teams who shifted the least. The Mets were 28th with about nine defensive shifts per game, Cleveland 26th with about 12.
Manager Luis Rojas said he understands Lindor’s perspective.
"If Francisco or a player like that is coming back at us or pushing back on us and is going to play here and he has his reason, then we should meet at some point," Rojas said. "I trust the guys, as I believe they trust us. Those conversations are only great. We’re all after the same goal: We want the New York Mets to win this whole thing.
"He’s got his point of view. He’s been playing baseball since like forever. So he’s gonna have his instincts kick in whenever we’re talking about a particular player or situation or positioning. That’s only good. Any time you have a guy that has this type of instinct, you know you have a leader out there."
Added acting general manager Zack Scott, who specializes in analytics: "I’m someone that welcomes any kind of pushback or questioning of anything we’re trying to do to get better. It creates a better dialogue."
Full squad, almost
Officially, Monday was the Mets’ first full-squad workout of spring training. Technically, four players — including Dominic Smith and Carlos Carrasco — were absent for what Rojas called "non-injury-related" issues.
"They should be present by the end of the week," he said. He did not name the other two players who were absent.
Roster set
The line between the offseason and spring training tends to be blurry, but Scott indicated that the Mets’ addition of Taijuan Walker last week probably is their last major-league move.
"We’re pretty settled with the 40-man [roster]," he said. "We may have some other types of [minor-league] deals and there may be other opportunities that present themselves during the spring, but I feel very good about the group that we have here right now."
That means that despite all the rumors about the Mets and star third basemen, a move is highly unlikely.
Scott said the Mets are content with their third-base options and would be comfortable with J.D. Davis starting there. The other options are Jonathan Villar, Luis Guillorme and Jeff McNeil, who also can play second.
Visit from ex-boss
Former Mets owner Fred Wilpon, who still owns a small percentage of the team, was in camp with new owner Steve Cohen over the weekend. Wilpon is expected to visit again in the coming weeks.
Extra bases
Tickets to Mets spring training home games sold out about nine minutes after they went on sale to the general public Saturday. Most of the approximately 1,400 tickets per game were bought by season-ticket holders, who got first dibs. Capacity at Clover Park is limited to 20% . . . Why is Lindor’s hair blue? "I get bored of the way my hair looks," he said. "And I don’t want to cut it all the time because it takes a little bit longer to grow. Why not dye it with different colors? Maximize it until I run out of hair."
