New York Mets star Francisco Lindor had an awful game against the St. Louis Cardinals, making two major mistakes.
Lindor is hitting .143 from the plate with a .712 OPS through six games, starting off the season slowly from the plate. He suffered an injury over the spring, which has seemingly left him in a slump and struggling to get his bat going.
However, his production has not been the only problem. On Wednesday against the Cardinals, he caught a grounder and only stepped on second base rather than throwing to first in a quick move for the double play.
As a result, the Mets continued to pitch, which did not alter the outcome of the game, but it was something quite frowned upon by the entire team, most of all Lindor.
“Inexcusable,” Lindor said. “I just forgot the outs.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza, who is known for his old-school baseball approach as a manager, did not defend Lindor, and he made it clear what he thought about the play.
“There’s no excuses,” manager Carlos Mendoza said, referring specifically to Lindor’s first-inning gaffe. “And he’ll be the first one that tells you that.”
Lindor’s second mistake
Then, when Lindor got on base during the game, he was caught with a lead at first base, not getting back in time, resulting in an easy out for the Cardinals.
The shortstop did not shy from taking on the blame during the play, bluntly taking accountability for his own mistake.
“I should have been better,” he said.
Despite the mistakes and slump, Lindor is holding his head up high and believes the Mets can trend in the right direction, noting the small sample size given the start of the season.
“I still believe in what we have,” Lindor said. “[President of baseball operations David] Stearns and the front office did a good job of putting a good team together, and we have a good team. It’s just that they executed their game plans. … It happens. It’s baseball. At the end of the day, we’ve got to play better than the other team.”
The Mets and Lindor end up dealing with the New York spotlight, and if they do not want to be crushed by the pressure, they will need to get things going soon.
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