Francisco Lindor powers Mets to a win in home opener
Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets celebrates a two-run homer against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field on Friday, April 15, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The beauty of baseball lies in its rhythm. Just as the weather warms and life blooms, eradicating the dregs of winter, the sport returns in earnest with red, white and blue bunting and jam-packed ballparks and the promise of six straight months of something to do and watch, just about every night, long after the hoopla subsides and maybe after the hype goes with it.
It is a new year offering a new beginning, a fresh start, a clean slate, especially for those like Francisco Lindor, who resolve to leave the past in the past.
This new start — the Mets’ 10-3 win against the Diamondbacks on Friday, Citi Field’s Opening Day — was a good start.
Lindor received raucous rounds of cheers during pregame introductions, before his first at-bat, after his first home run and after his second home run, a stark improvement from his Mets' initiation last year, when he was the frequent target of boos.
“It felt great to be able to hear my home crowd cheer me on," he said.
On a day when the Mets (6-2) received multiple hits from Jeff McNeil, Starling Marte (home run) and Travis Jankowski, as well as six innings of one-run ball from righthander Chris Bassitt, Lindor went 2-for-3 with the two homers, two walks, three runs and a steal.
He was in the middle of everything — including a scare in the first inning.
“My heart rate was probably, like, 185,” said Lindor, who is in the second week of the 10-year, $341 million contract he agreed to last spring.
The scene: It was the top of the first, two Diamondbacks on base, two out on a picture-perfect afternoon. Pavin Smith popped up to the middle of the infield, Lindor’s ball all the way. Except he couldn’t see it.
“Everybody knew where the ball was — but me,” Lindor said, standing in front of his locker, which used to belong to David Wright (and, for a season, Robinson Cano). “I saw it when it came off the bat, then it got in the sun and I was just panicking.”
Manager Buck Showalter said: “That’s as nervous as he’s been. Do you know what it’s like for everybody in the ballpark to know where the ball is, except for the shortstop?”
Lindor found the ball at the last moment, crouching down to give himself a few extra inches to position his glove correctly. The inning ended. The sellout crowd of 43,820, plus Bassitt, sighed with relief. The hard part was over.
Then the fun started. The Mets scored early and often against righthander Zach Davies, who gave up five runs (four earned) in 4 1/3 innings. Pete Alonso had sacrifice flies in the first and third. Cano hit a home run — his first in 570 days, having sat out 2021 with a steroid suspension — in the fourth.
Lindor’s original blast came in the fifth. His first swing of the at-bat resulted in a rocket down the rightfield line, but it tilted foul. Moments later, he kept the next one fair, planting a full-count sinker into the second deck in rightfield.
His encore solo shot came in the eighth, on the back end of a back-to-back sequence with Marte. The fans’ remained applauding, seeming to want a curtain call, when Lindor returned to the dugout. But he was distracted.
“It didn’t even cross my mind,” he said. “I was just hugging people and high-fiving people, thinking about how the at-bat went.”
Lindor’s third home run of the season happened on April 15. Last year it took him until May 15.
“He’s in a good place mentally and emotionally,” Showalter said. “He was pointing out his little girl and his wife to me before the game. You can tell he is comfortable with the challenge of playing shortstop for the New York Mets.”
With Lindor and the others, the Mets mustered plenty of offense despite missing a pair of starting outfielders, Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha, who tested positive for COVID-19 before the game.
Bassitt struck out six and walked two. He had a shutout until Daulton Varsho hit a home run in the sixth inning
“He’s a special player,” Bassitt said of Lindor. “We had a lot of good at-bats, good guys. Marte was unbelievable today. Lindor was unbelievable today. It was a good read of what this team can be for a lot of games this year.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
