Lindor adds angle to MVP debate with HR from each side of plate

SAN DIEGO -- It’s no longer sufficient to discuss Francisco Lindor’s MVP candidacy in a whisper.

For the better part of four months, Lindor has been the National League’s best player, as he demonstrated in hitting a grand slam and homering from both sides of the plate on Saturday night in the Mets’ 7-1 victory over the Padres. If Lindor isn’t the MVP favorite at this moment, he’s at least making an argument too compelling to ignore.

• MVP races may be tighter than you think

“We’re witnessing greatness,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “One of the best players in the game.”

After Manny Machado extended the Mets’ fourth inning with a fielding error, Lindor hit his seventh career grand slam, off right-hander Michael King, to give the Mets a comfortable lead. Three innings later, Lindor padded that lead with a leadoff homer against lefty Yuki Matsui -- that one from the right side of the plate. He finished the game leading the NL in fWAR.

In the wake of all that production, here’s a 12-pack of MVP nuggets about No. 12:

1. The multihomer effort marked the sixth time in Lindor’s career that he has gone deep from both sides of the plate, matching his former teammate Carlos Santana for third-most among active players and moving within one of another former teammate, José Ramírez. Only Ramírez and Baltimore’s Anthony Santander (seven times apiece) have done it more.

2. For those counting, it was also Lindor’s 19th career multihomer game of any stripe. And he’s tied for eighth among active players with seven grand slams.

3. Through 130 games, Lindor is on pace for 33 homers and 31 steals, which would give him a second consecutive 30-30 season. Only seven players have accomplished that: Willie Mays, Bobby Bonds, Ron Gant, Barry Bonds, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., Alfonso Soriano and Ryan Braun.

4. Lindor is tied with Pete Alonso for the team lead with 27 home runs. The last time anyone other than Alonso led the Mets in homers was the year before Alonso entered the league. During that 2018 summer, Michael Conforto paced the Mets with 28.

5. A crucial part of Lindor’s success has been his durability. He’s one of six big leaguers to appear in every game this season and has started all but one of them. Since returning from an oblique strain in August 2021, Lindor has appeared in 491 of a possible 494 games, including the postseason.

6. If Lindor can become the MVP, he’d rather improbably be the first one in Mets history. Only three active franchises have never had an MVP, and the other two -- the Rays and Diamondbacks -- are more than three decades younger than the Mets. Over their first 62 seasons, the Mets have had seven Cy Young Award winners and six Rookies of the Year, but never an MVP. (Darryl Strawberry came closest with a second-place finish in 1988.)

7. The closest Lindor has come was back in 2017, when he finished fifth in balloting for the American League award. Lindor has five top-10 MVP finishes in nine seasons but zero first-place votes.

8. Although Lindor’s offense was the focus on Saturday, he derives much of his gaudy WAR value on defense, as he demonstrated with three notable plays in support of David Peterson -- the highlight being his rangy grab of a Luis Arraez grounder to end the top of the third. Entering the afternoon, Lindor led NL shortstops with 15 outs above average and was tied for fifth in the Majors among players at any position.

9. Petco Park became at least the third stadium in which Lindor has heard “MVP” cheers this season, both during the game and throughout an on-field interview with SNY. Some of the loudest such chants occurred at Yankee Stadium last month, when Lindor hit two homers in a Subway Series victory. He’s been hearing them regularly at Citi Field, too.

10. What about the competition? Shohei Ohtani also homered on Saturday and has already produced a 40-40 season. If Ohtani were currently serving as a two-way player for the Dodgers, or adding any value on defense, he’d likely run away with the award. But Ohtani, who’s recovering from Tommy John surgery, has instead been a full-time DH. If ever a chance existed for someone else to rise up in the MVP race, this is it.

11. Other hopefuls include Braves slugger Marcell Ozuna, who has an outside shot at becoming the first NL Triple Crown winner since Joe Medwick in 1937, Arizona’s Ketel Marte, and Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz. But Ozuna is also a full-time DH, Marte isn’t nearly the defender that Lindor is, and De La Cruz plays for a sub-.500 team.

12. How does Lindor feel about all this?

“I don’t really look around the league to see what other guys are doing,” he said. “I watch highlights, because I’m a fan of the game. I love watching athletes do their best at the highest level. … I’m aware there’s a lot of guys having good years.

“I’ve got to continue to move forward and continue to climb the mountain. … The bigger goal here is to be in the postseason.”