Francisco Lindor's desire on display on, off field for Mets
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor reacts after hitting a RBI double against the Boston Red Sox during the eighth inning of a game Tuesday at Citi Field. Credit: AP/Noah K. Murray
One late August morning, I watched Francisco Lindor go through his pregame routine for that day’s 1 p.m. start against the Orioles. The field was empty aside from Lindor, the trainer and some fitness balls, which the shortstop was using for various exercises.
Lunges, shoulder presses, two-arm tosses. While the other Mets were back inside the clubhouse, doing their own rituals, Lindor was out in the hot sun, meticulously going through each rep.
When it was finally over, and Lindor headed down the dugout steps, I told him that if I had played almost every inning of every game, as Lindor had done, I’d be taking a nap rather than running through his workout regimen so close to first pitch.
Smiling, Lindor replied, “That’s the difference between you and me.”
He’s not wrong. And that difference, among other things, is what’s enabled Lindor to play in all 140 games this season, the latest being Wednesday night at Citi Field as the Mets completed a sweep of the Red Sox with an 8-3 victory, their seventh straight.
Lindor went 2-for-5 with a double to extend his on-base streak to a career-high 33 games, tied for the fifth-longest in franchise history. He also tied his own career-best hitting streak of 15 games, and made a handful of nifty defensive plays, including a scoop-and-throw on the run to nag the Sox leadoff speedster Jarren Duran.
“I can’t say enough good things about Francisco Lindor,” said Jesse Winker, whose first-inning grand slam put the Mets in front for the night. “He’s a true professional.”
As for updating the National League MVP chase, Lindor is now hitting .274 with an .844 OPS, but still stands at 30 homers and remains four stolen bases short of a second straight 30-30 season. Before Wednesday’s game, Lindor was leading the NL with a 7.2 WAR, according to FanGraphs. Still, the conventional wisdom has the Mets’ shortstop trailing Shohei Ohtani in the NL MVP chase, mainly because the Dodgers’ DH is on pace to become baseball’s first 50-50 player (and maybe even surpass that). But one of Lindor’s greatest superpowers is his ability to perform at such a high level, day after day, without taking a game off.
In this era of load management, Lindor not only bucks that trend — he obliterates it. So how does he do it? Such a simple question comes with a complicated answer. Part of that involves the pregame prep we mentioned earlier. But it also takes a village: nutritionists, personal chefs, massage therapists, trainers, a small army of strength and conditioning analysts. Lindor described the Mets’ staff as “amazing.” Oh, and plenty of sleep doesn’t hurt, either.
“Discipline,” Lindor explained. “Just being disciplined, with everything I do.”
Lindor’s formula works. After playing 161 games in 2022, and 160 last year, he’s now targeting all 162 — something he’s never accomplished. And the way Lindor has been powering the Mets’ playoff push, Carlos Mendoza is in no hurry to give him a breather, which goes against the standard operating procedure for managers these days.
Analytics goes well beyond bat speed and spin rates. Players are monitored down to every heartbeat, their fatigue level charted after each game. If those numbers spike, or get out of whack, an off day typically follows. But not with Lindor.
“He gets tired,” Mendoza said. “He’s human. But when I’m watching him with the trainers, in the weight room, talking to our performance-science people, he’s always looking for feedback. What are the numbers saying?
“We’re not only talking about one of the best players, one of the greatest players, but he’s very smart and so detail-oriented. He wants information.”
Mendoza said all this info has helped him make “informed decisions” about where Lindor is at physically, and there’s no arguing with the results. Maybe Lindor does feel exhausted like the rest of us, but he seems better than most at disguising it.
Doing that requires an extra gear come September, and Lindor’s motivation speaks to his leadership role on the Mets. When I asked him why playing 162 is so important — particularly when an off-day probably seems so tempting right now — Lindor’s response could have come from the previous owner of his same corner locker, the Mets’ last captain David Wright.
“Just posting up every day, being available every day for my teammates and my team, that’s what matters,” Lindor said. “I want to be there — I want to play. If the Lord is blessing me with health, I gotta go out there and play.”
For Lindor, it’s not just putting the uniform on. He persevered through a sluggish first seven weeks (.190 BA, .617 OPS) to spark the Mets’ season-saving turnaround, and it’s no coincidence his stats soared at the same time the team took flight (.311 BA, .947 OPS, 23 HRs over the next 94 games). That’s the definition of an MVP, and in Lindor’s case, it comes with the added physical demands of excelling at the high-stress shortstop position.
“Not only does he play defense, he plays an elite defense,” Mendoza said. “He makes the guys around him so much better. Kind of being the quarterback of the infield, leading the way. . . . There’s a lot this guy brings to the table, not only on the field, but off the field.”
And Lindor brings it every game. That makes a difference, too.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
