PORT ST. LUCIE — A full offseason of resting his lower back has left Francisco Lindor feeling “fantastic,” so don’t count on the Mets shortstop taking games off this season, if he can help it.
After manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters on Saturday that he still needed to discuss with Lindor a plan for this season in regards to potential days off, the shortstop entered the interview room at Clover Park and offered his assessment.
“MLB does a fantastic job of putting days off on the calendar,” Lindor said.
Lindor was on pace to play all 162 games last regular season when he exited a game in Philadelphia on Sept. 13 with back discomfort.
Lindor missed the next game and then was removed early the following day — the last time he played until returning almost two weeks later.
The best was yet to come as Lindor homered in the ninth inning in Atlanta on the final day of the regular season to lead a wild comeback that thrust the Mets into the playoffs.
In the postseason, Lindor was among the team’s most productive players with an .877 OPS.
Lindor said he won’t set a goal of playing 162 games this season, but he also won’t rule out the possibility.
“If I feel good, I am going to play,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in posting up and being available for the team, for the guys. And it’s like I have always said: One hundred and sixty two is not something in my mind. Like, I want to play 162. But if it does happen, it happens.
“In the last month, it doesn’t matter if you play 150 or 160 [games]. We all feel the same. August hits the same for everybody. Who is the one that grinds through usually comes out on top.”
Lindor, who finished second in the National League MVP voting behind Shohei Ohtani, arrived at camp last year and boldly said he thought the Mets were a playoff team, this despite a winter in which the Mets refrained from adding major pieces as part of a reset by team owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns.
This offseason, the Mets added one of the game’s premier stars in Juan Soto (on a 15-year contract worth $765 million) and re-signed Pete Alonso (two years, $54 million).
Lindor was asked if he had a prediction for this year.
“We have a really good team,” Lindor said. “The opportunity we have in front of us is amazing, but I have been on teams that have had high expectations that haven’t done much, and teams that have not as much expectations and haven’t done a lot.
“I think Stearns, Steve, the rest of the front office and Mendy did a fantastic job this offseason of bringing in the right group of guys. There were a lot of decisions they had to make to fill up the roster, and I feel like they did a really good job. It’s going to be a very interesting year and a fun one, for sure.”
Lindor, whose $341 million contract runs through the 2031 season, would seem like an obvious choice to become a team captain if the Mets choose to bestow such an honor on a player.
But Lindor isn’t about to lobby for the title. David Wright, who retired after the 2018 season, was the last Mets captain. Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter and John Franco are the others.
“I do feel like I am one of the leaders on the team, but there are a lot of leaders,” Lindor said. “The captain Francisco Lindor ready to go full tilt for Mets after 2024 back injury is something that is not up for me to decide. If it does happen, it will be fantastic. It would be an honor and a privilege. It’s something I would never take for granted. It’s something that would put me next to the greats of this organization forever, and it would be very humbling.”
