New York Mets Shortstop Francisco Lindor Heating Up at Plate
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Don't look now, but Francisco Lindor is starting to heat up at the plate again.
Despite enduring a rough month of May, suffering a dreadful 9-for-60 stretch, the New York Mets' shortstop has since caught fire, and is slashing .345/.375/.690 with two home runs and 11 RBIs in his last seven games.
Lindor is coming off a monster series in San Francisco, in which he went 5-for-13 with nine RBIs, two long balls, two doubles and a triple against Giants' pitching. He also achieved a major milestone in this series by reaching 500 RBIs for his career.
The 28-year-old - who doesn't like talking numbers - has brought his season triple slash up to a respectable .250/.337/.443 with a .780 OPS and 126 wRC+.
"I feel better for sure. I'm putting the ball in play and swinging at the pitches I want to swing at," Lindor said on Wednesday. "I'm hitting them forward, before I was swinging at the pitch I wanted and I was missing them."
Lindor's 33 RBIs are tied for the sixth-most in MLB, while his 1.6 fWAR is ranked No. 24 overall in the league and second among National League shortstops. He has scored 31 runs and his eight homers through 46 games have him on pace to crack 28 on the season as well.
Although he began the year red-hot through the first 17 games, while finishing April with a .282 batting average and .849 OPS, Lindor fell into a slump that had critics grumbling about him again since he is coming off a down first season in Queens. However, he looks to be getting back on track as of late, and has actually matched his home run total from last month (four) and eclipsed his RBI total with 19 in May.
Manager Buck Showalter said on May 18 that he wasn't worried about the previously slumping Lindor. We are starting to see why that is.
"I understand the scrutiny on a guy with the commitment to him," Showalter said. "His effort is always good. If you look at our categories across the board, he's right there either leading or close to it in just about everything."
A four-time All-Star with the Cleveland Guardians, Lindor signed a massive 10-year, $341 million contract extension after being traded to the Mets last year. The hope is that he can keep this type of consistency up throughout his tenure with the team.
The Mets are 29-17 on the season and hold a seven game lead in the N.L. East. They will need Lindor to continue to produce as a big bat in the middle of their lineup.
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