Laura Albanese: Mets must find their way with Francisco Lindor missing in action

Francisco Lindor doesn’t miss baseball games.

He declined to take paternity leave in 2025, and has played through broken toes and balky backs, to the point that Carlos Mendoza would look almost rueful whenever he asked if he planned to sit his shortstop due to one ailment or another.

Not this time.

“I knew something wasn’t right,” the Mets manager said Wednesday after Lindor grimaced turning third base. By Thursday, the (cloudy) prognosis was nonetheless confirmed: Lindor would be out for “quite a bit,” Mendoza said.

From the looks of it, we’re dealing with what has the potential to be a season-derailing injury. Lindor will be in a boot for the next week and be re-imaged in three weeks, Mendoza said. And though the team is calling it a left calf strain, there’s murkiness there, too.

“It’s in a tricky part of the calf,” Mendoza said; Lindor will continue to be evaluated out of concern for a different or more substantive injury — likely damage to his Achilles.

You can say the timing could be worse — it’s only April, after all — but because of their 12-game losing streak, the Mets already are in a pivotal stretch in their season, and have a prime opportunity to make strides. Lindor has carried them in the past, and for the Mets to have a prayer, they need to prove they can figure out to survive without him as soon as they possibly can.

This is the time to do it.

After snapping the skid and winning two straight, they dropped Friday night’s game against the Rockies in frustrating fashion (the “MLB Deserve-To-Win-O-Meter” X account noted a Rockies win was the expected outcome in only 26% of simulations).

Regardless, they’re in the middle of a nine-game homestand that includes a doubleheader against the NL West last-place Rockies Sunday and a three-game set against the sub-.500 Nationals next week. They leave for their longest road trip of the year after that — nine games in 10 days — but the opponents are manageable: the Angels (.444 win percentage before Saturdays games), the Rockies (.407), and the more formidable Diamondbacks (.560).

A few things have to happen for them to make good on this chance.

First, the rest of the offense has to step up in a big way.

Reinstating Juan Soto from the injured list is a huge boost, but save for Francisco Alvarez, who leads the team in home runs and WAR, the offense often has looked anemic. A trump card here, though, could be Bo Bichette, who’s been heating up of late.

The Mets offense so far has failed to square up the ball, and tends to drive it to the ground (their 11.1 launch angle is fourth-lowest in baseball). They swing at a ton of first pitches (34.6%) and chase almost just as much (32.5%).

Bichette does that more than almost anyone . . . except for the fact that he’s generally good at it. He chases but he makes contact, and if he can start elevating the ball, we could see him revert to his past production.

Marcus Semien, too, is starting to look a little better — batting .321 in his last eight games. Luis Robert Jr. has cooled of late, and appears more exposed without the injured Jorge Polanco batting in front of him, but he might be able to benefit from having Soto back in the lineup, particularly as Soto tends to see a good number of pitcher per at bat — something that Robert said he benefited from in the first few days of the season, when Polanco was routinely working longer counts.

Now would also be a good time for Brett Baty and Mark Vientos to finally answer the question that’s nagged them throughout their young careers: will-they-won’t-they live up to their potential. Both are carrying negative WARs, and this fragile lineup simply can’t sustain that lack of production from what are now integral pieces. Ronny Mauricio, meanwhile, should be able to benefit from regular playing time.

Next, they have to figure out what to do with their pitchers.

The Mets are being held hostage by their befuddling pitching situation. After spending the second half of last season beholden to a bullpen full of one-inning relievers, they’re spending the first part of this season inundated by longmen.

David Peterson and Sean Manaea have looked marginally better of late, but not good enough to escape their bullpen relegations. Christian Scott struggled with his command but will get more opportunities, Mendoza said. Freddy Peralta has pitched well enough, but he’s always struggled with efficiency, and the relief corps has been all too prone to allowing his inherited runners to score.

In Kodai Senga, “we need to see more consistency,” Stearns said. “I think we’ve seen flashes in Kodai.”

They’re going to need more than flashes. Getting Senga right is a huge step that they don’t seem particularly close to achieving. Closer Devin Williams also needs to sort himself out. “His changeup hasn’t been exactly where he wants it yet,” Stearns said. “He’s gone through stretches like that previously in his career and I’m pretty confident he’ll get back” to where he wants to be.

For the rotation, the Mets can try to continue to cobble something together with Tobias Myers, who can open and potentially be promoted to the rotation if he’s stretched out. Luke Weaver is also an option at closer, though Mendoza is still committed to Williams at the moment.

None of this is ideal, but there is a sliver of opportunity. And if the Mets are going to survive Lindor’s absence, they need to grab hold of it now.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.