Lindor in New York groove with Mets records in sight

NEW YORK -- With every clutch hit he gets, every run he scores and every franchise milestone he reaches, it gets clearer: the Francisco Lindor the Mets traded for has arrived in 2022, and he isn't going anywhere.

Lindor was the conduit of the Mets' offense, as usual, in their series sweep of the Reds at Citi Field. On Tuesday, his 20th home run kickstarted the Mets’ win -- and made him the first shortstop in franchise history with multiple 20-homer seasons. And in New York’s 10-2 win in Wednesday afternoon's series finale, Lindor’s two-run single in the second inning helped the Mets break the game open early -- and gave him 81 RBIs, tying José Reyes in 2006 for the single-season record by a Mets shortstop.

"It's a blessing -- because whenever you can do something cool, it's a blessing. Being next to Reyes, somebody I grew up watching, it's great,” Lindor said. “But I'm here to try to win a World Series. That's all I have in mind. Along the way, things like this are gonna happen."

Lindor has sparked the Mets to a six-game winning streak and a 20-6 record since the start of their series against the rival Braves on July 11 -- the day, not coincidentally, that Lindor got red-hot.

The Mets' sweep of the Reds marks a full calendar month since that Braves series. Over that month, Lindor is batting .374 with 10 multihit games, including Wednesday, when he went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored.

Lindor has 20 home runs, 11 stolen bases, 81 RBIs and 74 runs scored this season. He's one of only four players in the Majors with at least 20 homers and 10 steals, and one of four with both 70 RBIs and runs scored.

The players in those groups? They're all superstars.

The other 20-homer, 10-steal players are the American League MVP frontrunner Aaron Judge, the reigning MVP Shohei Ohtani and Lindor's superstar former teammate José Ramírez. The other 70-RBI, 70-run players are Judge, Paul Goldschmidt and Freddie Freeman.

All those runs driven in, and the runs he scores himself, illustrate how Lindor is a focal point of a Mets offense that’s scored five or more runs in nine straight games, the longest streak in MLB this year.

Lindor has scored a run in 13 straight games, passing Mookie Betts for the longest run-scoring streak in the Majors this season and tying David Wright's streak in July 2008 for the longest in Mets history. He's reached base safely in 18 straight games.

Meanwhile, Lindor's 81 RBIs rank fifth in the Majors, third in the National League and most among shortstops. And with teammate Pete Alonso leading the NL with 96 RBIs, the Mets have the biggest run-producing duo in baseball.

Like Alonso, Lindor is a rock for New York. He's played in 111 of the Mets' 112 games, and he's been their most valuable player by Wins Above Replacement, with 5.0 WAR per FanGraphs. That makes him a top-five player in the Majors, and the most valuable shortstop.

“It's a skill … It sets the tone for a lot of guys,” manager Buck Showalter said of Lindor’s ability to play at a high level every day -- a quality in Lindor that he also saw in another star player he used to manage, Manny Machado.

“Francisco brought that skillset [from Cleveland to New York],” Showalter added. “I remember talking to Terry Francona before the season, and it's one of the things he talked about: how much [Lindor] likes to play, and likes to compete. Let's be frank -- when you make commitments to players long-term, that's one of the hardest things to read.”

“I came to New York to play baseball,” Lindor said. “That's part of my job description … Buck is out there grinding, the boys are out there grinding, I want to be out there with them. Yeah, I do take a lot of pride coming in day in and day out knowing that I'm going to play.”

With every big game, Lindor lives up to his 10-year, $341 million contract a little more, and buries the struggles of his first season with the Mets a little more. Every day, Lindor looks more like the four-time All-Star with the Guardians, as he drives New York to win the World Series ring he fell just short of with Cleveland in 2016. Lindor is a perfectionist, and he won’t settle for less.

“I remember [one game] we had a relay that was a little off. I think it kept him up for two days,” Showalter said. He recalled how, hours before Lindor hit home run No. 20 on Tuesday off Mike Minor, he spotted the shortstop sitting alone in the corner of the team dining room. Lindor was on his iPad, watching every pitch Minor threw in his last outing, studying the Reds left-hander.

That’s a habit Lindor picked up early in his career from Cleveland relief ace Andrew Miller. He was the first player Lindor saw studying his opponents before he faced them and taking notes. Lindor asked why he was doing it, and Miller told him that to be the best, he couldn’t afford to roll the dice every time he took the mound. Lindor took that wisdom to heart.

“He's driven,” Showalter said. “He wants to be the last team standing real bad.”