Lindor heard boos, vows he'll win in NY

NEW YORK -- Of course Francisco Lindor heard the boos directed toward him during Tuesday’s loss to the Red Sox at Citi Field. As far as Lindor can recall, he had never been booed by a home crowd in Cleveland.

It took all of nine home games for it to happen to him in New York.

“It’s interesting and it’s funny and it sucks,” Lindor said. “It doesn’t feel right, for sure.

“Interesting because it’s the first time that it’s happened in my career, and funny because I’m getting booed and people think I’m going to go home and just think about why I’m getting booed. I get it. They’re booing because there’s no results. That’s it. They expect results. I expect results, and I get it. It’s part of the job. People expect results, and they’re booing because there are no results. I just hope they cheer and jump on the field when I start hitting home runs, and when I start helping the team on a daily basis a lot more than I’m doing right now.”

To snap out of his slump, which included just one barreled ball in his first 60 tries, Lindor has attempted to do some hitting drills that he used to in Cleveland, in the hopes of getting back to the swing that helped make him a four-time All-Star in Cleveland. Manager Luis Rojas noted that Lindor “has got a really good feel of things that he does out there … and really good routine.” But that doesn’t always account for the fact that Lindor is also human. It would be natural to heap some added pressure on oneself after signing a $341 million contract extension.

To that end, Lindor acknowledged that he’s “still trying to adjust” not only to a new team and a new city, but a new league -- all while stopping short of making that an excuse for his early-season struggles.

“They pitch a little differently, but at the end of the day, it’s the same ball, and the mound is the same distance, and the bases are in the same places,” Lindor said. “But yeah, I’m starting to get used to how they pitch, how they do things, how they attack hitters. I’ve just got to be better. To be honest, I’ve got to be better, and I will be better. I’m looking forward to continuing to learn the league, for sure.”

“I came to New York to win,” Lindor added, “and I’m going to do whatever it takes to win.”

Finding Nimmo

Following a week-long on-again, off-again flirtation with the starting lineup, Brandon Nimmo was back on Wednesday for what he and the Mets hope will be an extended stretch. Nimmo took the field more than 48 hours removed from a cortisone injection in his right hip, leading off and playing center field.

Before the game, Nimmo explained the genesis of his hip impingement, which began affecting him April 18 in Colorado. Nimmo sat out two of the next three games in Chicago and “figured it would just get better over the off-day,” in his words. Instead, the hip worsened “to the point where it was hurting just to roll over in bed.” Although Nimmo started all three games last weekend against the Nationals, he was relying on painkillers to get through them.

“It was mainly changing directions, cutting, and sometimes when I would check-swing, I’d get a sharp pain,” Nimmo said. “Turning on inside pitches a little bit -- it was just thing that put my hip in a little bit of an awkward position … a compromised position. So those things were a little bit of a tough thing to get through.”

That prompted an MRI on short sleep, a diagnosis, and an injection. Now that Nimmo is two days removed from the cortisone shot, he doesn’t expect his hip to remain an issue.

Waiver claim

In a move to bolster their catching depth, the Mets claimed backstop Deivy Grullón off waivers from the Rays and optioned him to their alternate site. Grullón, 25, was a Top 20 prospect in the Phillies organization as recently as 2019. He was a midseason Eastern League All-Star in 2018, hitting .273 with 21 homers in 90 games for Philadelphia’s Double-A Reading affiliate. He also won the Eastern League Home Run Derby that season.

The Mets have worked over the past few months to collect catching depth behind Major League starter James McCann and his backup, Tomás Nido. Grullón will join veterans Bruce Maxwell and Caleb Joseph, and prospect Patrick Mazeika, in a fight for reps at Triple-A Syracuse.

The Mets’ 40-man roster is now full. They had transferred reliever Dellin Betances to the 60-day injured list last weekend to clear a space for an acquisition like Grullón.