With the Mets clinging to a one-run lead in the seventh inning Saturday, Francisco Lindor took a full-count pitch and seemingly dropped the bat to his shoulder before the ball even arrived.
It was a slider from Giants reliever Randy Rodriguez, the fourth Lindor had seen in that at-bat, and Lindor dipped his hands, staring at the pitch as it crossed the plate to the point where an NBC Sports broadcaster suggested “it was like Lindor was just taking.”
The moment, in the context of a 7-2 Mets loss Saturday at Citi Field that featured a collapse by the bullpen in extras and another blown save by Edwin Diaz in the ninth, didn’t end up impacting the outcome, but it was still a bizarre scene for Lindor, who has struggled — along with most of the Mets’ lineup — to start the 2024 season.
After Lindor struck out, Pete Alonso flew out to end the inning.
Lindor went 1-for-4 with a walk Saturday, leading off the first with a double.
In the ninth, when the Mets were attempting to secure a walk-off win after Diaz’s blown save, Lindor beat out a potential double-play grounder to give the Mets a first-and-third situation with two outs — though they couldn’t end up capitalizing.
But Lindor has still compiled just a .208 average and .643 OPS in 2024, with his brutal April sinking those numbers.
Lindor’s wife, Katia Reguero Lindor, received horrific threats in Instagram messages when Lindor’s 2024 campaign reached an early nadir, and after she shared them on social media, Mets owner Steve Cohen suggested that fans give their shortstop a standing ovation after the end of that road trip — a similar approach to what Phillies fans did with Trea Turner last year.
That’s exactly what happened April 12, and Lindor hit .273 to close the month.
“I wasn’t expecting it at all, but it definitely felt good,’’ Lindor said the night of the ovation. “It felt good to be able to come home and feel the love of the fans. When I’m playing well or playing bad, it fills my heart.”
He struggled again to start May, but Lindor has recently been stringing together stronger results — with hits in six of the Mets’ past eight games, and multi-hit outings in four of those — to lift his average back over .200.
The Mets, though, have now lost 10 of their past 12 games, sit nine games under .500 and already trail the NL East-leading Phillies by 15.5 games.
