Francisco Lindor Is Keeping The Mets Alive, Adding New Dimension To MVP Debate

Francisco Lindor isn’t stat-padding in his underdog quest to earn National League MVP consideration. With the New York Mets locked in a deadly standoff with the Braves for the last Wild Card spot, Lindor has come through in clutch moments time and again, kickstarting the team to another torrid stretch in September. He delivered again Wednesday night.

With the Mets trailing 1-0 and facing a no-hit bid from Blue Jays pitcher Bowden Francis into the ninth inning, Lindor hit a game-tying, no-hitter-busting solo home run. The Mets, typically lethargic in day games, went on to rally for six runs in the ninth, putting Toronto away and reassuming a one-game lead on Atlanta in the standings.

“It felt really good,” Lindor said after the game. “It was one of those hits that I could tell the vibes in the dugout were lifted.”

Lindor’s case to earn MVP honors in 2024 over Dodgers slugger Shohei Ohtani can be defended from a statistical standpoint. With a .268 average, 31 home runs and a 6.4 WAR, he has fully recovered from a disastrous start to the season to become the league’s best shortstop.

Ohtani, who is on pace to become the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases, has an obvious, perhaps overwhelming, case as well. But Lindor’s Gold-Glove caliber play at shortstop is also a mark in his favor against Ohtani, who hasn’t played a single inning in the field this year.

Getting away from the statistics, however, fans defending Lindor in this debate have argued that the “valuable” aspect of the MVP award is being overlooked. Ohtani has provided a great deal to the Dodgers in his first season with the team, providing outstanding production at the plate while the team has struggled through a slate of injuries. Without Lindor, however, the argument can be made that the Mets wouldn’t be .500, let alone in playoff contention. His performance in recent months has propelled the team back from obscurity.

At the end of May, the Mets were 11 games under .500. The season was all but over for most fans. Lindor’s struggles were a drop in the ocean of a wholly unproductive New York roster. As leaders for the team’s young hitters, he and J.D. Martinez can likely be credited with saving the season. When they improved, the lineup transformed.

In the month of June, New York went 16-8, getting back to .500 out of nowhere through explosive hitting. As a team that month, the Mets earned a .507 slugging percentage and .865 OPS, both franchise records. Meanwhile, after hitting .210 in April, Lindor batted .290 to kick off the summer. With the help of Grimace, a new hit song from Jose Iglesias and sudden production up and down the lineup, the Mets went from a National League sad sack to an extremely noisy outsider.

At the time, Lindor didn’t receive a single MVP chant. He wasn’t even selected for the All-Star Game, with some claiming that he was snubbed despite his ice-cold spring. In order to seriously enter a race with Ohtani, a generational superstar, Lindor maintained his elite output at the plate and in the field throughout the summer.

The Mets cooled off at times in July and August, but Lindor didn’t. In August, he hit .325 with six home runs and 16 RBIs, many of them coming in close games. All the while, New York continued to make up ground in the Wild Card race.

At the very end of August into September, the Mets made their final breakthrough, winning nine straight games to truly challenge the Braves for the last playoff spot. The two teams have traded wins for the better part of two weeks now, but Lindor’s blast Wednesday night, the same night the Braves dropped a 5-1 game to the Nationals, is yet another crowning moment in his best season since his days in Cleveland.

In all likelihood, Ohtani will make history at the plate and on the base paths this season, and that will be enough for voters to give him his third MVP award. It won’t be undeserved. The fact that it’s even a discussion, however, is a testament to what Lindor has done in a season that once seemed lost, for him as well as his team. The Mets still have a ways to go to improbably land in the playoffs, but they’ve gotten this far and Lindor shows no signs of slowing down. Maybe, just maybe, this sort of value will make a difference.

Article by Patrick Moquin