The Mets’ MVP candidate did nothing to scare off voters as his team returned to Queens to begin a crucial home game.
When Francisco Lindor heard the “MVP” chants from the crowd at Citi Field on Monday night, he answered their request by getting on base three times, scoring first-to-home on Brandon Nimmo’s double in the third inning and getting an RBI of his own one inning later.
In that 4-1 win over the Red Sox, the strike zone was at times a little larger than the Mets hitters would have liked – a problem that was more than offset by Luis Severino’s excellent seven innings of work – which essentially provided the decisive lead.
For Lindor, it was all just a day’s work, and he was able to extend his hitting streak to 13 games and his on-base streak to 31 games.
“It was pretty cool,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of the chants that have been heard at Citi Field for some time. “I felt it too and I was like, ‘Wow.’ When I look back to April and now, the first week of September, 35,000 to 40,000 people are chanting ‘MVP,’ it’s pretty cool.”
“A special player, a special person. Again, he is everything you want in a player. I’m just proud to put his name in the lineup every day.”
The Mets have never had an MVP winner, and Lindor cannot consider himself a favorite as Shohei Ohtani is about to complete his first 50-50 baseball season in Los Angeles – he reached 44-46 on Monday by stealing three bases.
If Ohtani continues to make history, Lindor’s combination of consistency, outstanding defense and high consistency at the plate could understandably go unrewarded by voters.
But if Lindor continues to play a leading role in the Mets’ run to the playoffs, the MVP conversation will give way to more important things.
The shortstop’s value to the Mets was underscored on Monday when the Mets moved within a half-game of the Braves to secure the final wild-card spot in the NL.
Without JD Martinez (paternity) or Francisco Alvarez, who got a break and has been struggling lately anyway, the Mets took some damage in the fourth inning with two runs from the guys at the bottom of the order – DJ Stewart and Luis Torrens.
Stewart hit a single and Torrens hit a double, with Stewart scoring on an error by left fielder Tyler O’Neill. Lindor promptly brought Torrens home with a single, reliable as ever.
“When you see the type of player Lindor is and the type of season he’s having, both personally and in the way he helps the team, it’s special,” Torrens said through an interpreter. “And you see (chants) more and more when the team is winning, especially.”
