Mitchell’s Musings
LINDOR IS NOT JASON
BAY…..
Yes, Francisco
Lindor is NOT Jason Bay. Bay actually was WAY more productive 45
games into his initial season with the Mets.
Truth!
Through 44 games
Lindor is batting .191 with 4 home runs 11 rbi and an OPS of .583.
The only things that have come “as advertised” with Mr. Lindor is
his stellar fielding and his 341 million dollar smile. Bay who signed
a 4 year 66 million dollar deal with the Mets before 2010, started
much better. Through game 45 Bay was batting .307 with 3 homers and
19 rbi. In games 44 and 45 Bay went 6 for 6 combined in back to back
games with the crosstown rival Yankees.
Hmm.
It’s well
documented that Bay went on to seriously under produce never coming
close to his near MVP numbers he put up with the Pirates and Red Sox.
On July 23
rd Bay collided with the left field wall at
Dodger Stadium and that pretty much ended his season and any hopes of
him playing up to the level the Mets had expected ever again. Bay
only appeared in 95 games in his debut season. He returned to have
his best year as a Met in 2011 batting .245 with 12 homers and 57 Rbi
in 123 games. He bottomed out in 2012 batting .165 in 70 games and
was jettisoned to Seattle in 2013.
The Mets don’t
have that luxury with Lindor. He’s bound by a huge and weighty
contract. He’s a Met for the next 10 years and he’s making money
that would make Bobby Bonilla envious. Earlier, you will find that I
was not panicking over Lindor's struggles. I’m still
not...panicking. But I am seriously
concerned. Previously I followed
the stance that he was a proven commodity. He’s always in the MVP
mix, he’s either winning or in the discussion for the Silver
Slugger and Golden Glove and is universally regarded as a great
teammate and a leading presence in the clubhouse. I said. “Relax!
It’s early.” Well, It’s not early anymore. It’s June! Over
one quarter of the season is in the books and Lindor is on the
interstate and is being out produced by bench players. Granted with
the slew of injuries that have besieged the Mets there isn’t much
protection in the line up for Lindor. But even when he had
protection he was still floundering.
The boo’s and
catcalls have gotten louder and louder and we are at the stage when
fans cheer sarcastically when he draws a walk. How did we get here?
My mind is flooded with images of former superstars who were never
were able to rise to expectations in the deep and heavy pressure that
surrounds playing in New York. The ghosts still haunt Flushing:
Roberto Alomar, Carlos Baerga, Mo Vaughn, George Foster, Jim Fregosi,
F-Rod, Frank Francisco to name a few. Even the well loved and highly
regarded Curtis Granderson struggled mightily in 2014 and had a solid
Mets career but never approached the heights he reached with the
Yankees and Tigers (age and park dimensions not withstanding.) Even
Carlos Beltran struggled in year one in flushing in 2005. However in
2006, he was 4
th in the MVP voting and went on to have a
great career with the orange and blue.
All that said. It’s
still early enough that Lindor can turn this around and still win the
hearts and accolades of the most judgmental Met fans. With every hit,
stolen base or stellar play, fans (and teammates) wonder “Is this
the turning point?” No one knows. Several times this season it
appeared that Lindor had turned a corner. Nope, so far it’s only
U-turns. 2021 has been strange. The Mets overall are near the bottom
of the league in all offensive stats, yet (as of this writing) have
the biggest divisional lead in baseball. Lindor aside, 2021 is
playing like a Strat-O-Matic game with 12 sided dice. None of the
outcomes could have been predicted by any well honed, schooled and
knowledgeable baseball fan.. Especially Lindor's.
I have to admit I am
no longer confident that Francisco Lindor or any player on the Mets
is going to perform up to expectations. With the current exception of
Jacob deGrom and bench players. The Mets roster depth has been
astounding. Seems a different no-name hero emerges every game. That
in and of itself is the story of 2021...so far. As for Lindor; 25
percent of the story has been written. Met fans cross their fingers
for the next three-quarters.
3 comments:
Craig, I have thought about it and looked at the Lindor signing.
He has never played under pressure. As I wrote the other day, Cleveland was in a patsy division, in which they won the division 3 times and won the Wild Card once in the past 4 years. 47% of games are against division rivals, and those rivals averaged 70 wins over that period, largely due to inadequate pitching.
He played for a small market, successful team. For a franchise that had little previous success. They loved him, unabashedly.
He now has had the weight of the enormous contract, the full glare of NY, and a crumbled offense to contend with. Too much weight for his shoulders.
Very fortunately for him, the team is in first place, and with Pete, Villar and Davis all likely back this week, and Lugo too, adding to the strong pitching, AND going on the road out of the glare, I think he will feel the wind at his back again and get out of his funk.
Hopefully, Nimmo, Conforto, and McNeil will be also back within a few weeks, and this team will explode on offense and continue to have strong pitching. Taking Lindor out of the spotlight and with a wind at his back. Almost like being in Cleveland again.
I played under pressure on my wedding night.
Tom...very, very possible.. Bay didn't play in big markets (However Boston is pretty unforgiving) but the parallels are there.
Post a Comment