With half of the Mets’ starting position players now on the injured list, the spotlight may shine even brighter on their scuffling $341 million shortstop.
But Francisco Lindor isn’t feeling that added pressure.
Despite a recent hot week at the plate, Lindor entered Monday’s series against the Braves still searching for consistent production early in his first season as a Met. The lack of personal results coupled with new injuries to Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil, though, don’t have Lindor thinking that he has to try to put the team on his back.
“I gotta go out there and perform, whether Conforto, McNeil, [Brandon] Nimmo and J.D. [Davis] are in the lineup or not,” Lindor said Monday before batting leadoff in Atlanta.
“I don’t play tennis, I don’t play golf. I’m not by myself. I play a team sport. Understanding that my teammates are really good at what they do and that I don’t have to be the man every single night, I just gotta be a part of the puzzle. Every night is a puzzle. I just want to be that one part that helps it win the game that day.”
Lindor took a .190 batting average and 66 OPS-plus into Monday’s game. He appeared to be breaking out of his slump to start the season during the Mets’ last homestand — batting 7-for-17 with one home run and no strikeouts in five games — but followed that up with a rough series over the weekend in Tampa, batting 0-for-12 with six strikeouts.
“Did they change the balls in Tampa? Did they make them smaller? Because I didn’t see them over there,” Lindor said with a laugh. “It’s part of the game. I want to have some success; I’m not having much right now. When it comes to what I’m feeling, I’m feeling like Francisco Lindor, man. I just haven’t got the hits that I want, that everybody wants.
“The team is in a good spot right now, so that makes me happy,” added Lindor, who said he still believes the Mets can win 90-100 games, “and probably more.”
The Mets did enter Monday leading the NL East by half a game, with the division off to a slow start overall, but that figured to be put to the test this week. With Conforto and McNeil joining Nimmo and Davis on the shelf, the Mets’ injured list is now overflowing with offensive talent.
Lindor was not alone in his slow start after being a prized offseason acquisition — catcher James McCann was hitting just .200 with an OPS-plus of 41 coming into Monday — but with the injuries piling up, the Mets could certainly use him coming alive.
“I’m grinding. I’m doing my best,” Lindor said. “The results are not my best, but like I tell my dad, there’s not a day I stand in the box and say, ‘I just want to strike out today.’ … It’s not easy. Otherwise, somebody would be sitting in this chair and not me.”
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