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The New York Mets failed to sweep the Washington Nationals in their season-opening series but shortstop Francisco Lindor earned a praise from Mets manager after the game. Lindor hit his first home run and stole his first base on Sunday and emerged from the series hitting .250 with four walks, three runs scored, two RBIs and a 1.054 OPS.
On Friday night, Lindor just narrowly avoided a serious injury after taking a fastball off the chin. The Mets fell just short of sweeping Washington as the Nationals won the final inning by a 3-0 score to claim a 4-2 over the visitors.
“Not many people would’ve played the next two days after what happened,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said, per The Post. “Sometimes people miss — not just Francisco but players in general — the type of moxie you have to have to continue to play this game when you can be in harm’s way very quickly”.
Lindor likes to be prepared
Lindor is a student of the game and Showalter appreciates the effort the shortstop is putting before games. “I just try to run different scenarios through to see what his answer is, and to see if his answer matches my answer,” Lindor said.
“Early in the year, third inning, do we want to give up a run or not give up a run? How aggressive do we want to be? That should tell me how aggressive we are going to be later in the year. [Showalter] has been in the game longer than me, he’s smarter than me.
Why not learn from him?” Lindor likes to be fully prepared for whatever may come his way during games. “I don’t want to be caught off guard because I wasn’t prepared or didn’t have the answers,” he said.
“If I get caught off guard, it’s OK if it’s something new. If I knew the answer, I don’t want to get caught off guard”.