Hello, Francisco Lindor - it's nice to see you again!
The shortstop has caught fire recently and is looking like himself for the first time all year
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets were off on Thursday - they open a three-game series with the Dodgers on Friday night at Citi Field
José Iglesias is heading to Broadway to star in Buena Vista Social Club (The Athletic)
Rookie lefty Zac Thornton seems to be a part of the future of the rotation after barely pitching in high school (MLB.com)
A variety of baseball minds came together to try and solve the Mets problems (Newsday)
Both Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing have been striking out alot lately which could stem from the long grind of a major league season (NY Post)
Injury Updates 🏥
RHP Clay Holmes (fractured right fibula) completed his first rehab start with Syracuse. He gave up two runs and struck out two. His final line was 2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, and 2 K
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
ICYMI: Trade season is upon us, and in the latest Patreon episode, Rich and Michael took on the hottest takes the Just Mets faithful had to offer. Enjoy a preview above, and subscribe to our Patreon to hear the full conversation!
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Down on the Farm 🌾
RHP Tobias Myers (Triple-A) 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
1B JT Schwartz (Double-A): 3-for-4, R, K
1B Trace Willhoite (Single-A): 3-for-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, BB, K
BOX SCORES
Single-A SLU | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (43-60) vs Dodgers (65-38)
Where: Citi Field — Flushing, NY
Starters: LHP Sean Manaea (2-5, 4.74 ERA) vs. RHP Roki Sasaki (3-5, 4.98 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: WPIX
Just like that, Francisco Lindor is hot again ✍️
It has not been a great season to date for Francisco Lindor. And that’s probably being nice.
First, he missed most of spring training after undergoing surgery for a broken hamate bone. Then, after struggling at least defensively over the first few weeks of the season—which can only be attributed to a lack of preparedness due to missing most of camp—he suffered a left calf strain at the end of April, and he didn’t return until the end of June.
Between that lack of spring training, a whole new infield around him with players at new positions, and the missed time due to the calf strain, Lindor’s defense has unquestionably suffered.
With his defense suffering, so too was his offense. After he came back in June, he hit just .150/.190/.400 with a .590 OPS. He had just one home run and three RBIs in 20 at-bats in June.
But as the calendar flipped to July, Lindor started to look more like the Lindor fans are accustomed to.
Lindor is hitting .270/.352/.460 with a .812 OPS in 63 at-bats so far this month. He also has three home runs and eight RBIs. Most of that damage, however, has come over his last seven games during which he has hit .370/.433/.704 with two home runs and six RBIs. But honestly, that’s totally fine as long as it’s the beginning of his season’s upswing, and that the nightmare of the first part of his season is behind him.
As we saw in years past, how Lindor goes, the Mets go. In 2025, he hit .333/.402/.598 with a .999 OPS in wins compared with him hitting .196/.285/.325 with a .610 OPS in losses. In 2024, it was more of the same. In wins, he hit .336/.409/.675/1.084 and in losses .196/.260/.283/.543. For most of this season, the Mets have been missing their engine that makes the offense go. With him on the IL and underperforming for a little bit, it has been hard for this team to get out of its own way.
The problem is, the public has severely scrutinized Lindor’s injury-riddled season to the point that a lot of people want him traded before the August 3rd trade deadline. Part of that might have something to do with the fact that he wasn’t reportedly included in the list of players the Mets aren’t at all interested in moving this summer, which includes Juan Soto, Christian Scott, Nolan McLean, Carson Benge, and AJ Ewing.
But that never meant the Mets were going to move or would be even able to move Lindor. He has 10-5 rights, he is owed $160 million over the next five years, and he’s had a rough year between the injuries and underperformance.
At the same time, perhaps that level of criticism was unfair. Sure, nobody is crying over a player who makes $34 million a year and has struggled. The defensive miscues have been inexcusable - he has been critical of himself for those. But the offensive struggles are unquestionably tied to the hamate surgery, the lack of spring training, the calf injury, and his first 160 or so plate appearances of the 2026 season being spread over three months. Time will tell, of course, but perhaps it was a little premature by the public to write Lindor off, label him as diminishing, and ask the Mets to run him out of town, from the media to the fans.
Besides, who would they replace Lindor with? People never really seem to talk about that part.
This is a lost season for the club and should be treated as such, but it would be a mistake to trade away a key piece of their offense. The team has the foundation for a good team with Soto, Scott, McLean, Ewing, Benge, and Zac Thornton. Lindor should also factor into that foundation, given that this is an abnormal season for him. Given a full spring training next season, he might not struggle so mightily out of the gate and help the 2027 Mets start off on the right foot. Are his best days behind him? Perhaps, but we are still talking about one of the elite talents of his generation, perhaps the best shortstop of his generation, and a player on a Hall of Fame trajectory.
He deserves the benefit of the doubt to say the least, and certainly more than being run out of town after 160 injury-plagued plate appearances in one season, a year removed from a second straight finish in the top 10 of the National League MVP balloting.
Of course, David Stearns has a lot of work to do to build around that core, but the talent is definitely there at its base. They may not be as far away as we might’ve thought a month or so ago.
There just needs to be baseball in 2027 so we can see how it all plays out.
Around the League 🚩
The Pirates acquired RHP Ron Marinaccio from the Padres in exchange for signing bonus pool considerations (ESPN)
Former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is part of an investment group that bought a minority stake in the Athletics (ESPN)
Braves OF Ronald Acuña Jr. is expected to be activated off the IL ahead of their weekend series against the Orioles (ESPN)