Three years after a hard introduction to the realities of being a star in the Big Apple, Lindor has earned the M-V-P chants surrounding his at-bats at Citi Field.
' clubhouse, stopping at the lockers of green rookies and grizzled veterans, players from the United States and Venezuela and Japan and Cuba and the Dominican Republic. It's his ritual now, one performed out of equal parts desire and duty.
"I needed him to trust me and I needed to get to know him," said Mendoza, who also offered Lindor the chance to focus on the field if he thought it would better serve him."That was my biggest messaging : 'I appreciate the fact that you want to be a leader, but you have a big job. You've got to play shortstop for the New York Mets every day.'
Meetings helmed by players, particularly during chaotic periods in a season, can devolve into meandering festivals of grievance. Lindor had gathered them anyway. He has struggled in the past knowing when to speak or how much to say, but this players-only get-together would hinge on his ability to keep a losing team focused -- and by then, he had earned their attention.
Others spoke up. Manaea, the 32-year-old starting pitcher who had joined the Mets over the winter, pointed at other teams prioritizing fun, particularly on the basepaths."I basically just said we need something to rally around," Manaea said."We'd just played thehave the Super Mario thing. You look at all these teams, and they have something everyone on the team rallies around.
And so as the season builds toward August and September, the focus for Lindor narrows. The leeway for him to slump dissipates. Since the day after the meeting, he is hitting .308/.383/.556 with 17 home runs and 19 stolen bases in 72 games. Only Judge and., the two best players in baseball this season, have more WAR in that stretch."And that," Manaea said,"is the stuff I love. The grind of a season. Having the ups and downs.
All of this matters to Lindor, as, increasingly, does the trajectory of the team, because the best remaining years of his career will be spent with it. Lindor's contract runs through the 2031 season. He'll turn 38 shortly thereafter. If he is going to win a championship, it will come with the Mets. And who would surround him on a title-winning team is starting to reveal itself., who's out for the season with a torn ACL.
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