Francisco Lindor: The 2024 Mets Wild Card Winning Season

As the 2024 season began, Francisco Lindor was starting his fourth season with the Mets. He was coming off his first 30 plus HR season with them & his second straight 95 plus RBI season. 

Although he put up good numbers over the Mets years, he still was not living up to the high expectations expected of him, he was not being looked at as a superstar player & team leader. With the big salary came the big pressure. The fans wanted to see the Mets go deep into the post season.

Francisco's season started out slow in 2024, thru his first 12 games he was batting under .100. 

It's hard to believe, even now forgotten that with the Mets having such a bad start & Lindor not hitting, fans were so angry, that they stooped to insulted him as well as his family on social media.

On April 7th, he hit his first HR of the season, coming off the Reds Andrew Abbot in a 3-1 win at Cincinnati. 

Multi-RBI Games: On the Mets early west coast trip to California, Lindor hit his second HR of the year, a two-run shot coming off Daniel Hudson in a 9-4 win at Dodger Stadium.

It was the first of 24 multi-RBI games he would have on the season. On April 20th, the next game he had his second straight multi-RBI game with an RBI double & RBI single in the Mets 6-4 win as they took two of three.

Four Hit- Multi- HR Game: On April 24th, Francisco had his first multi- HR game & four hit game of the season, hitting a pair in an 8-2 win over the Giants in San Francisco. In the top of the 3rd, he hit a two-run shot off Sean Hjelle & then in the 9th inning hit a two-run shot off Mitch White.

On April 27th at Citi Field, Lindor collected a season high four walks in a loss to the Cardinals. April 28th, he hit his 5th HR of the year, a solo shot in a 4-2 win over the Cardinals.

Walk Off Hit & Multi- Four RBI Game: On May 2nd, Lindor had his first walk off hit game & his first four RBI game of the season in a 7-6 win over the Cubs. In the 6th inning, with the Mets down 5-2, Lindor hit a two run double Then scored the tying run on Brandon Nimmo's double. 

In the bottom of the 11th, with the Mets down 6-5 & the inherited runner on second, Lindor doubled off Daniel Palencia for the exciting walk off victory. 

Move to Lead Off Spot: On May 18th, Francisco who had been batting in the third position, agreed with manager Carlos Mendoza, to make the move to the leadoff spot. He slowly started to hit better, finally getting over the .200 mark for good by late May. 

Over the next 51 games, getting to the All-Star break, he would bat .301 with 63 hits 10 HRs 18 doubles 31 RBIs 38 runs scored & a .911 OPS. From May 18th to July 14th the Mets went 29-21.

On May 28th, Francisco would hit the first of his 26 HRs from the lead off position.

Four Hit Game: On May 30th, he had his second four hit game of the season, with three singles
& a HR in a 3-2 win over Arizona at Citi Field.

MVP Player on Best Team in Baseball from June-October: At the end of May, Francisco was batting .229 with 9 HRs & 29 RBIs. At the start of June, the Mets were 24-35 a season worst 11 games under .500. 

But from June 2nd on they went 65-38, the best record in baseball. Lindor would lead the team with an MVP type season, collecting big hits, playing an outstanding short stop, stealing bases, driving in & scoring runs. 

In that time, he batted .300 with 24 HRs & 62 RBIs over the next 95 games. The fans would chant "MVP-MVP" when Lindor came to bat throughout the rest of the season.

Multi- Hit Games: From June 4th to June 8th Lindor had three straight multi-hit games. 

London Series: In the two-game split with the Phillies played in London he collected two hits in
the first game loss & was 0-5 in the second game win.

From June 25th to June 29th, he had four straight multi-hit games. 

That month he collected 11 multi- hit games & would have 53 multi-hit games on the season.

Four Hit Game: On June 17th in a 14-2 Mets win in Texas, Francisco had his third multi- four hit game of the season. 

He collected three singles & an RBI double, driving in two runs while scoring a season high three runs. Lindor would score two runs or more, in a game 21 times on the season.

On July 2nd & July 3rd, Lindor hit HRs in back-to-back games with the nationals in D.C. It was the first of three times he would hit HRs in consecutive games on the season.

Multi HR Game: On July 22nd in South Florida, Lindor had his second multi-HR game of the season hitting solo HRs off Yonny Chirinos & JT Chargois.

Multi-HR Multi- Five RBI Game: Three days later in the Mets 12-3 subway series win in the Bronx, Lindor had his third multi-HR game of the season. In the 5th inning, he hit his 20th HR of the season, a two run-HR off Gerrit Cole, the Mets third HR off Cole that night. In the Mets six run 8th inning, Lindor added a three run HR off Caleb Ferguson giving him a season high five RBI game. Lindor reached 60 RBIs on the season.

He homered in back-to-back games, as the next night at Citi Field, Francisco hit a 3rd inning two run HR off the Braves Chris Sale, the Mets won the game 3-2 on Jeff Mcneil's walk off single.

Mets Record Reaching Base In 35 Straight Games: From July 31st to September 7th, Lindor reached base safely in each game setting a Mets record with 35 straight games reaching base safely. In that time, he hit safely in 31 of the 35 games, collecting 48 hits, with 11 doubles 8 HRs 21 RBIs & ten walks. He hit .324 with a .945 OPS. The Mets went 21-13 in that time playing some of the best baseball in the majors.

12 Game Hit Streak: From August 6th to August 18th, Lindor had a 12-game hit streak, where
he hit .359 with 19 hits two HRs three doubles & eight RBIs. After the hit streak he drew a walk in his next game. On He would reach base in 15 straight games collecting walks prior & two games after the streak.

On August 7th in Colorado, Francisco came to bat with the bases loaded in the top of the 9th inning with the Mets & Rockies tied 2-2. He singled off Victor Vodnik driving in Harrison Bader & Ben Gambel with the go ahead runs, in the eventual 5-3 win. 

On August 14th, Lindor hit his 23rd HR of the season, coming off Oakland's Joey Estes in a 9-1 win at Citi Field.

16 Game Hit Streak: From August 20th to September 6th, Lindor went on a 16-game hit streak, collecting 24 hits with 6 HRs & 12 RBIs while batting .353 in that stretch.

On August 21st, Lindor hit his 25th HR of the season, a solo HR off the Orioles Cole Irvin in a 4-3win over Baltimore at Citi Field. 

NL Player of the Week Award: That week, Lindor hit three HRs, four doubles drove in six runs & scored six runs. He won his fourth career Player of the Week Award.

Grand Slam-Multi-HR Multi- Five RBI Game: On August 24th, in a big series in San Diego against the wild card leading Padres, Lindor had his fourth multi-HR game of the season & matched a season best five RBIs. 

In the 4th inning with the Mets up 1-0, Lindor came to bat with the bases loaded & hit a grand slam off Michael King. It was his seventh career grand slam HR & the fifth of his Mets career.

On August 29th in Arizona, the Mets were down 2-1 in the 6th inning, when Lindor tied the game with a HR off Ryne Nelson. Jose Iglesias RBI single in the top of the9th led to the Mets big win. 

On September 1st, Lindor homered driving in one of the two runs in Sean Manaea (7 innings) Reed Garrett (1) & Edwin Diaz (1) combined four hit 2-0 shut out over the White Sox at Citi Field. 

30th HR & Multi- Three RBI Game: On September 3rd, Francisco reached the 30 HR mark for the fifth time in his career, with a two run HR off Boston's Kutter Crawford in a 7-2 win at Citi Field. 

In the 8th inning, he hit his 37th double of the season, driving in a run for his seventh game of the season where he drove in three runs or more.  

On September 11th in Toronto, Bowden Francis had no-hit the Mets thru eight innings with the Blue Jays leading 1-0. Lindor led off the top of the 9th inning with his 31st HR of the season, tying the game & having Francis removed from the game. 

Chad Green came on, gave up a base, three walks & two sac flies giving the Mets a 3-1 lead. Francisco Alvarez then hit a three run HR leading to the 6-2 win.

Injury: After having played in every Mets game on the season, he had back issues which kept him
out of the line up from September 16th to September 27th, at a crucial point at the end of the season with the Mets in a four-team battle for the three wild card spots. The injury opened the door for the young Luisangel Acuna to step in.

On September 29th, in an important game in Milwaukee, in keeping the Mets playoff hopes alive, Lindor drove in two runs & homered off Colin Rea in the David Peterson (7 innings) Phil Maton (1) Edwin Diaz (1) combined three hit shutout. Lindor also stole two bases in the game, doing that for the third time on the season. He ended the season stealing 29 bases just one shy of being a 3-30 man.

Mets Clinch Playoff Berth: On September 30th, the Mets & Braves played a scheduled double header that was a make-up from two games the previous week that had to be postponed due to Hurricane Helene. Each team needed a win to earn a wild card playoff spot. In the first game, the Mets fell behind 3-0 heading to the 8th inning.

In the top of the 8th, Lindor singled off Joe Jimmenez to get the Mets within a run. He would score the go-ahead run-on Mark Vientos sac fly. The Mets put up six runs in the inning but saw the lead disappear as Edwin Diaz served up four runs to the Braves in the bottom of the 8th.

In the top of the 9th, Francisco Lindor had his biggest regular season moment as a Mets Player.
With Starling Marte on first base, Lindor hit a long HR to right center field off Pierce Johnson giving the Mets the 8-7 lead. They would go on to the win & earn a playoff berth guaranteeing them a wild card spot. It was the third time he homered in back-to-back games that season.

Season Stats: On the season Lindor hit 33 HRs (6th most in the NL) with 39 doubles (4th most in the NL) & 91 RBIs. He scored 107 runs (4th most in the NL) batted .273 with 169 hits (sixth most in the NL). Lindor stole 29 bases in 33 attempts. He walked 56 times with a .344 on base % & .844 OPS. He struck out 127 times as well.

At short stop, he turned 74 double plays, posting a .979 fielding % making 12 errors in 564 chances in 151 games.

2024 Post Season- NLWC: In the NLWC series win over the Brewers, was hitless over the first two games. In the 8-4 Game #1 victory, he drew a walk & scored the go ahead run in the 5th inning on Marke Vientos two run single. In the Game #2 loss, Lindor collected two walks & hit an RBI sac fly.

In Game #3 he collected two more hits & in the 9th inning with the Mets down 2-0, drew a walk &was on base when Pete Alonso hit the three-run game winning HR.

2024- NLDS: In the NLDS series win over the Philles he batted .238 with a HR, two doubles &
five RBIs, drawing two walks with four runs scored.

In the Game #1 win, he drew two walks & scored on Brandon Nimmo's single in the Mets five run 8th inning. In the Game #2 loss, he collected two hits.

In Game #3 at Citi Field, Lindor hit an 8th inning RBI double off Carlos Estevez in the Mets 7-2 win.

Grand Slam HR: In Game #4 at Citi Field, Lindor came to bat in the top of the 9th inning, with the bases loaded & the Mets down 1-0. Francisco hit a grand slam HR off Carlos Estevez putting the Mets up 4-1 leading them to victory & clinching the series to advance to the NLCS. 

It was his second post season career grand slam, as he is just the third player to have two grand slams in their post season career. He is just the second Mets post season grand slam in franchise history. (Edgardo Alfonzo 1999). 

Trivia: It was just the third time in post season history a player hit a grand slam in the 6th inning or later that put his team in the lead of a series clincher in the post season. It was the only time, the grand slam accounted for all of the winning team's runs in that series clinching spot.

2024 NLCS: In the series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Lindor hit .292 (7-24) with a HR five runs scored, two RBIs & four walks.

In the Game #1 loss at Dodger Stadium, he was 0-3 with a walk. 

NLCS HR: In Game #2 win, Lindor collected two hits, including a leadoff HR off Ryan Brasier to start the game. Lindor's HR broke a Dodgers pitcher post season record streak of 33 scoreless innings.

Mets Trivia: The last Met to lead off a post season game with a HR was Curtis Granderson in the 2015 World Series Game #5.

In the top of the 2nd, Lindor was walked intentionally to load the bases & get to Mark Vientos who would hit a grand slam giving the Mets a 6-0 lead.

In the 6th inning, Lindor collected his second hit with a leadoff single. The Mets went on to a 7-3 victory, evening the series.

In Game #3, Lindor was 0-4 in the loss at Citi Field.

Back-to-Back Multi Hit Playoff Games: In Game #4, he collected a pair of single & struck out twice in the 10-2 loss.

My Girl & the Temptations: In Game #5 at Citi Field, the Temptations current line up showed up to sing the National Anthem & the classic song "My Girl". My Girl had been Lindor's walk up to bat song during the season.

In the Mets Game #5 win, Lindor collected two more hits for another multi-hit game, he also drove scored two runs, drove in a run & drew a walk. He led off the 1st inning with a base hit off Jack Flaherty, then scored on Pete Alonso's three run HR. 

In the bottom of the 3rd inning, he tripled to right field bringing in Francisco Alvarez with the Mets fourth run of the inning. He next scored on Brandon Nimmo's base hit. 

The Mets won the game 12-6 heading back to Los Angles down three games to two.

In the Game #6 loss at Dodger Stadium, he was 1-4 with a base hit. Lindor collected his fourth walk of the NLCS & tenth of the post season as well. He would strike out 13 times in the 2024 post season.

Mets Career Stats: In his four-year Mets career Lindor has played in 598 games, batting .259
with 596 hits 113 doubles 11 triples 386 runs scored & 359 RBIs. 

He stole 86 bases in 104 tries, struck out 493 times, walked 239 times. He posted a .336 on base % & .797 OPS. 

Mets Post Season Career: In 16 post season games, in two post season years, Lindor is batting .262 with 16 hits (16-61) with three doubles a triple, three HRs 13 runs scored & Nine RBIs. He has one stolen base in one attempt. He struck out 15 times with 11 walks, two intentional. Lindor posts a .378 on base % & .870 OPS.

Family: In 2021 Francisco & his wife Katia Reguero were married, together they have two daughters.