What truly defines Francisco Lindor's MVP candidacy
Francisco Lindor homered and doubled to help the Mets keep their winning streak alive and keep pace with the Braves in the NL Wild Card race
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets defeated the Red Sox by a score of 7-2 on Monday night, stretching their winning streak to six games (box)
David Peterson started for the Mets and he was stellar again - he struck out 11 against one walk with just one run allowed over six innings
The Mets played a tight ballgame until they exploded for four runs in the eighth inning - Francisco Lindor doubled in a run, Brandon Nimmo drove home a run on a sac fly and Pete Alonso sealed the game with a two-run home run
Francisco Lindor continued to make a strong case for the NL MVP award with a double, homer and three RBI, and Mark Vientos hit his 22nd home run in the seventh inning
José Buttó allowed a run thanks to two walks over one inning, but Reed Garrett and Ryne Stanek closed the door behind him to shut Boston down the rest of the way
The Mets have won 13 of their last 18 games, are now 24-16-8 in series, 11-10-3 in series at home, 48-20 when scoring first, 56-13 when leading after 7 innings, 21-21 vs the AL East, 61-39 when they hit at least one home run, 51-18 when scoring 5 or more runs, 26-18 after the All-Star Game, and 40-36 against teams at or over .500
Playoff Race 🏁
The Mets were unable to gain ground on the Braves and Diamondbacks after they won their games on Tuesday. The Mets did gain 1/2 game on the Padres, who did not play.
The Mets remained 1/2 game behind the Braves for the third wild card, 3 games behind the Diamondbacks for the second wild card, but are no 3.5 games behind the Padres for the top wild card.
There are 23 games remaining.
Per FanGraphs, the Mets have a 37.9% chance of making the postseason.
New York has the 10th hardest schedule in MLB the rest of the way.
Tiebreakers:
vs. ATL: 5-5
vs. ARI: 4-3 (finished)
vs. SD: 5-2 (finished)
vs. SF: 2-4 (finished)
vs. CHC: 4-3 (finished)
vs. STL 4-2 (finished)
Injury Updates 🏥
RHP Paul Blackburn (hand contusion) allowed a run over 6.2 IP in his major league rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday
RHP Dedniel Núñez (right forearm tightness) will not throw any bullpens are side sessions during this homestand, but Mets manager Carlos Mendoza is hopeful he can resume throwing after that and ramp up quickly from there
RHP Sean Reid-Foley (right shoulder impingement) recently resumed throwing, but it is unclear if he will return before the end of the regular season
Francisco Lindor for MVP! 🏆
Leads the National League with 7.2 fWAR and is fourth in the majors behind Aaron Judge (9.7), Bobby Witt Jr (9.6) and Juan Soto (7.4)
Extended his on-base streak to 32 games - is hitting .333/.379/.600 with 45 hits, 10 doubles, 1 triple, 8 home runs and 21 RBI with 26 runs scored during that span
Extended hit hitting streak to 14 games - is hitting .362/.403/.793 with 21 hits, 7 doubles, 6 home runs, 12 RBI and 14 runs scored during that span
In 94 games since moving to the leadoff spot on May 19, Lindor is hitting .311/.379/.568 with 121 hits, 35 walks, 29 doubles, 1 triple, 23 home runs, 62 RBI, 71 runs scored and an NL-high 6.5 fWAR
Since May 19, Lindor leads the NL with 121 hits, leads the NL with a 165 wRC+, is second in the NL with a .311 batting average, is third in the league with 23 home runs, third with 71 runs scored, fifth with 20 stolen bases, and is third with a .947 OPS
Lindor has 16 outs above average at shortstop, the second most of anyone in the National League and tied for the fourth-most in MLB
He is one of three shortstops in MLB history with five or more 30+ home run seasons (min. 50% of games at SS in each year): Alex Rodriguez (7) and Ernie Banks (5) - via Sarah Langs
Is now one of six switch-hitters in MLB history with five or more seasons of 30+ home runs - Mark Teixeira (9), Mickey Mantle (9), Lance Bergman (6), Chipper Jones (6), Eddie Murray (5)
Is one of seven players since 2017 with five or more seasons of 30 home runs and is the 10th player in club history to have multiple 30+ home run seasons
David Peterson!
Notched a career-high 11 strikeouts on Tuesday
has a 1.81 ERA over his last 11 seven starts, allowing just 9 earned runs over 44.2 IP during that span
Has allowed three or fewer runs in 15 of his 17 starts in 2024, tied for the most such starts since he made his season debut on May 29
His .900 winning percentage is the best such mark in MLB (min. 10 decisions)
The Mets are 14-3 in games started by Peterson this season
His 2.75 ERA is fifth best in the National League this season (min. 90 IP)
Who’s Hot 🔥
Pete Alonso has four home runs in his last eight games, 35 plate appearances
Mark Vientos has ten hits and two home runs over his last seven games, hitting .357/.387/.571 during that span
In 22 appearances since being acquired from the Rays, Phil Maton has a 1.77 ERA in 22 appearances, having allowed just four earned runs and five walks with 22 strikeouts in 20.1 IP.
Down on the Farm 🌾
INF Luisangel Acuña (#12 prospect, Triple-A): 1-for-4, 2B, R
C Christopher Suero (High-A): 3-for-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
LHP Zach Thornton (High-A): 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K
BOX SCORE
TRIPLE-A SYR | Double-A BNG (OFF) | High-A BRK | LOW-A STL (SUSP)
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (75-64) vs. Red Sox (70-69)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Tylor Megill (3-5, 4.82 ERA) vs. RHP Tanner Houck (8-9, 3.12 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
What’s defining Francisco Lindor’s MVP candidacy ✍️
I don’t want to sound like a complete homer when I make this case for Francisco Lindor. It might sound that way anyway, but again, it’s not my intent this morning.
First off, I want to acknowledge Shohei Ohtani. He’s once again doing things we have never seen before with a greatness on the order of magnitude of…I don’t really know. He could become the first 50/50 player in the history of this game, less than a year removed from undergoing a second Tommy John Surgery. He’s the best player most of us will ever see, I think that is indisputable and at a minimum, a fair argument to make.
I get what 50/50 means for the game, I get what his value is to the Dodgers, especially right now as they’re fighting to win the National League West against the surging Diamondbacks.
But 50/50 should not mean Ohtani is a lock for the NL MVP award. That’s merely symbolic for the kind of season he is having.
If anyone wants to argue he is the best all-around player in the league, I don’t think anyone will keep their hand down on that.
But is he the most valuable player in the game? Is he even the most valuable player on his team? Certainly, that is a subjective argument anyone can make either way.
Now, there’s no question the Dodgers aren’t as good without Ohtani. And if that’s the case, maybe they’re not leading the division without Ohtani given all of the other injury problems they’ve had over the course of the season. After all, he’s worth 6.7 fWAR this season, which is absurd and demonstrates his value.
But something tells me the Dodgers would be in pole position at a minimum without Ohtani. That’s a very strong lineup without him thanks to Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernandez, Will Smith and the rest of their stars.
That’s where Francisco Lindor comes into the picture.
The statistical argument is in this newsletter. The numbers are indisputable on both sides of the ball. What he has done and what he continues to do to keep the Mets alive in this race is not open for debate.
But here is where I think Lindor stands above there rest. And no, it’s not because Ohtani is simply a designated hitter although I think that should matter to the voters since this is a sacred vote that’s being cast.
Where are the Mets without Lindor? If the Mets make the playoffs, will they they have gotten there without him? No.
How many games has Lindor single-handedly won with his glove, bat or both?
A large number, but not really something that can be calculated.
The dude has been one of the best all-around players in baseball, not just the National League. He comes up money pretty much every time these days, winning games all by himself. Or locking games down.
Or, in the case of last night against the Red Sox, both.
And the Mets don’t even have a pulse right now without. Yes, they’d be dead and buried somewhere, playing out the string.
To me, this is what the definition of the Most Valuable Player is.
Yes, the stats support any argument for or against, but it’s that plus what the player means to a team, and what the players value is with respect to their ability to contend or even make the playoffs.
And I think this subjective argument compounds the statistical and more objective argument for Lindor. He elevates the Mets, he is single-handedly giving the Mets a chance to win a wild card on a daily basis, and that’s the merit to justify his candidacy over Ohtani, as great as Ohtani has been and will continue to be for the Dodgers.
Again, I don’t want to sound like a homer, even though I probably do. But nobody can tell me Lindor isn’t the most valuable player to his team in the game right now.
And if that’s the justification, the choice is academic.
Around the League 🚩
Cy Young favorite Chris Sale threw seven shutout innings for the Braves as they blanked the Rockies 3-0 in Denver
Paul Skenes threw five shutout innings, lowering his ERA to 2.13 for the season, and helped put a crimp in the Cubs playoff hopes with a 5-0 win at Wrigley
The Cardinals upended the Brewers with three runs in the 12th inning to win 7-4 in Milwaukee, keeping their faint playoff hopes alive
The Diamondbacks avoided a scare after allowing four runs in the eighth to edge the Giants 8-7 at Oracle Park
What ever the voters for MVP think, Watching him perform at the plate and in the field, no player in baseball is more valuable to his team than Lindor. Watching him address the question of MVP, he always places contributing to the team above outside accolades. Keep it rolling, at this point who cares about April and May.
Most Valuable Player ... each word is key ... a player can be so good as to be inhuman and still not be "most valuable" to the team. With various players on the Mets having ups and downs -- see Nimmo, for instance -- he's ever more important. Ditto his work behind the scenes.
Anyway, kudos to David Peterson. Without Senga, someone had to step up. It wasn't Mr. Q.