Jorge Castillo
Multiple Authors
NEW YORK — Francisco Lindor has not been a stranger to gradual begins in his six seasons with the New York Mets, however his early struggles in earlier years have been primarily restricted to offensive manufacturing. This season, along with his .167 batting common via 15 video games, the five-time All-Star shortstop has added a layer of uncharacteristic errors.
Lindor’s newest lapse got here within the second inning of the Mets’ 11-6 loss to the Athletics on Saturday when Lawrence Butler hit a floor ball to second baseman Marcus Semien that ought to have been the beginning of an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. But Lindor, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, made a play for the ball moderately than going to second base to show two. As a end result, Semien was pressured to dash to second base for one out whereas a run scored for the A’s.
“It’s weird because that’s not him,” Mets supervisor Carlos Mendoza stated after his workforce’s fourth straight loss. “It’s hard to explain. And he’ll be the first one. He’ll tell you that he’s got to be better. But yeah, never seen some of those plays that he’s just out of position at times.”
It was Lindor’s third lapse in two days. In the third inning Friday, he was flat-footed making a flip at second base on a possible inning-ending double-play ball. In the sixth inning, with runners on the corners and none out with the Mets down 1-0, he was caught off third base on a floor ball to first baseman Nick Kurtz.
This weekend’s miscues adopted two unforced errors in opposition to the St. Louis Cardinals on April 1 when he misplaced observe of the variety of outs whereas fielding what ought to have been an inning-ending double play within the first inning and was picked off at first base whereas fiddling together with his batting gloves within the sixth inning.
“Not sure,” stated Lindor, 32, when requested if he might attribute the gaffes to something. “I feel like I’m locked in. I feel like I’m in the game. It just happens. Got to be better.”
At the plate, Lindor is 10-for-60 with 10 walks, 13 strikeouts and an .546 OPS. He went 1-for-5 on Saturday, singling and scoring on Bo Bichette‘s first house run with the Mets within the fifth inning. Lindor struck out on three pitches within the first inning, prompting an early refrain of boos from the house crowd, and struck out in his ultimate at-bat within the eighth inning earlier than the Mets fell to 7-8 on the season.
“There’s always been pressure,” stated Lindor, who’s within the fifth 12 months of a 10-year, $341 million contract extension. “And I’ve always put a lot of pressure on myself because I expect a lot of myself.”
Lindor’s offensive struggles have been amplified by star left fielder Juan Soto‘s absence. Soto was off to a scorching begin to the season, going 11-for-31 with an .928 OPS in eight video games earlier than struggling a left calf pressure working the bases in opposition to the San Francisco Giants on April 3. The Mets are 3-4 within the seven video games with out him within the lineup.
“He’s the same guy,” Mendoza stated of Lindor. “He shows up. He prepares. He works as hard as anybody. He wants to win. I don’t think it’s got anything to do with who’s in the lineup and who’s not. It’s weird.”
