PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida, USA (AP) — In his bid to improve after a difficult first campaign with the New York Mets, Francisco Lindor has a plan to rediscover the rhythm of his game.
“Life was a little faster for me last year,” the shortstop acknowledged on Tuesday during spring training. “I tried my best but I just wasn't as productive as I wanted to be.”
Exchanged to New York from Cleveland with Venezuelan pitcher Carlos Carrasco in January 2021, the Puerto Rican star said he wanted to host his new home and that it would take him back.
However, boos resounded at Citi Field after it had a batting average of .182 until April. He scored .204 in May and .160 in August to finish with the lowest percentage in his seven-year career: .230.
“I didn't feel like I had a drop, I wasn't hitting the ball and obviously the numbers weren't there. I felt like I was having good days, but I was irregular,” Lindor acknowledged.
Lindor's 10-year, $341 million contract with the Mets begins this season. He played last year with a one-year deal and 22.3 million.
In his second year with the Mets, he said he likes the style of new manager Buck Showalter. He claimed that it reminds him of “Tito”, in reference to Terry Francona of Cleveland.
Showalter gave a simple Francona-style advice to the Puerto Rican baseball player, four times elected to the All-Star Game.
“I'm not the type to say those phrases, like Mark Twain's. You read them once and they become phrases on the wall,” said Showalter. “But if I were to put one, it would be 'play better'.”
Lindor says he intends to.
“I think this year — I know this year — all I did in the preseason with my training was to ensure that I would keep my exercise program separate and be with my wife and baby and recover,” he warned. “Last year everything got mixed up.”
Part of the mission to leave behind last season was to overcome the May 7 altercation with teammate Jeff McNeil in the tunnel to the Citi Field clubhouse.
When the Mets returned to the dugout after the top of the seventh, several players, including Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith raced to separate them. Lindor was visibly upset with the second baseman's play in a defensive change and the tension could have traced back to a series played two weeks earlier at Wrigley Field.
“McNeil and I have been doing well since then,” Lindor said. “We continue to play as hard as we can. In the end we are two competitors who want to win and do what it takes to win.”
A two-time winner of the Golden Glove, Lindor doesn't regret agreeing to spend a decade wearing blue and orange.
“I felt like I was successful last year,” he said. “We need to get to the postseason. We were there and then in the last month and a half I couldn't help the team enough to reach the playoffs.”
“I'm still 10 years older.”
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