WASHINGTON – At 31, Francisco Lindor should be facing the headwinds of baseball’s aging curve.
The game’s modern gospel decrees that career peaks are reached in a player’s mid-20s, particularly shortstops with almost unmatched power-speed profiles. That a player who was a perennial All-Star at 22 yet failed to earn that distinction in his first four seasons moving to a major market would struggle to recapture his status as one of the top five or so players in the game.
Yet here is Lindor, driving the New York Mets to a major league-best 19-9 record through the first month of the season, and about to cap off arguably the greatest 162-game stretch of his career. It is a testament not only to his Hall of Fame-caliber ability, but also his continued growth as his career progresses and he gains more comfort with who he is, and what he can be.
“You gain knowledge. With knowledge comes maturity,” Lindor tells USA TODAY Sports. “There are life experiences that, for better or for worse, make you a much stronger person, a more genuine, a more understanding human being.
“I have three kids. I have a beautiful wife. It’s something that you continue to learn as you go.”
Yes, it’s been a dizzying few years since Lindor arrived from Cleveland in a blockbuster deal, then in April 2021 signed a 10-year, $341 million contract to make him a Met for life. He and his wife Katia wed in November 2021, welcomed their second daughter in June 2023 and their first son just a month ago.
Meanwhile, Mets owner Steve Cohen’s efforts to build an empire continued apace, Lindor the original centerpiece even as he struggled initially in his adjustment from American to National League.
With each passing year in Queens, though, Lindor’s WAR kept climbing the charts, his comfort level seemingly rising. And then last May, Lindor got an unintended turbo boost when manager Carlos Mendoza moved him into the leadoff spot.
In 134 games since, the only big leaguers arguably more impactful than Lindor are reigning MVPs Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani.
Lindor has slashed .309/.374/.548, and his .920 OPS over 612 plate appearances outpaces all his full-season totals, including a career-high .871 mark in 2018, when he was 24.
Perhaps more significant is what the Mets have accomplished in that period.
They went from midseason malaise to one of the game’s most compelling stories by the end of 2024, snagging an unlikely wild-card spot, escaping Milwaukee with a wild-card series win, stunning the division champ Philadelphia Phillies and pushing the eventual title-winning Los Angeles Dodgers to six games in the NL Championship Series.
Strangely enough, even as the club experienced significant turnover and added $765 million man Juan Soto – off to a slow start thus far – this season has almost felt like a continuation of the last.
To wit: Lindor finished off the Phillies in the NLDS with a Game 4 grand slam. In his first at-bat against them this season, he homered again.
“Yeah man, it’s been incredible,” says Mets outfielder Jesse Winker, who has known Lindor since both were teens playing ball in the Orlando area. “Every single night he does something special on the field to help the team win and that’s really cool to see.
“I just think he’s a guy who knows who he is. He knows how to prepare and knows how to execute in all facets of the game.”
Peak-a-boo
Perhaps that’s the misleading bit about Lindor, whose “Mr. Smile” nickname and wonderfully flashy skill set belies the grinder at his core.
He’s played between 152 and 160 games in six of his eight full seasons, a daily masterclass in energy conservation and availability.
“That’s the miraculous thing – there’s no secret formula with him, no secret anything,” says Mets slugger Pete Alonso, who has slugged a team-leading six home runs in 28 games. “His superpower is his consistency. It’s hard work, it’s dedication and him willing to show up every day and have the internal drive to be the best player he can be every single day.
“And act on that internal feeling.”
Lindor echoes many modern ballplayers when he claims he just wants “to be the best version of myself.”
That doesn’t necessarily mean the best version, adjusted for age.
Lindor’s four-month rampage in 2024 produced his best MVP finish – runner-up to Ohtani – during a career in which he placed in the top 10 a half-dozen times. His 6.9 Wins Above Replacement was second only to that age-24 season in Cleveland, when he posted 7.3 WAR.
For Lindor, there’s no true apex – at least not one he’s seen, yet.
“That means you gotta continue to learn, continue to work day in and day out,” he says. “I truly believe that in life, if you work every single day and you try to get better and acquire knowledge every day, you can continue to peak.”
It’s not a bad mantra for the Mets. Cohen’s determination to flex his financial might resulted in a 101-win season in 2022, but a late fade ceded the NL East to the Braves and a wild-card elimination at the San Diego Padres’ hands followed.
A step back was required when consecutive $43 million annual investments in aging pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander went awry in 2023, and the following season looked like another gap year as first-year baseball operations chief David Stearns recalibrated.
Yet the Mets started 24-35 and finished 65-38. Their run to Game 6 of the NLCS was the closest Lindor came to sniffing a championship since Cleveland fell devastatingly short in the 2016 World Series, squandering a 3-1 lead and succumbing in Game 7 extra innings.
“I’ve been wanting to win it all since Day 1,” he says, accompanied by an audible sigh. “It’s something that everyone here should play for, and I think we all play for that.
“The drive keeps getting bigger and bigger.”
Slowing down time
With that in mind, the Lindor-Mets fit only seems to grow snugger. Cohen kept the gang together for at least another year by retaining Alonso for $30 million; the Polar Bear can opt to hit the free agent market again this winter.
Stearns brought his pitcher-whispering magic over from Milwaukee, assembling a staff that leads the majors with a 2.53 ERA and has given up the fewest home runs, 12 in 28 games.
Winning the Soto sweepstakes showed that there may not be a ceiling on Cohen’s wherewithal toward his beloved ballclub, at least not until there’s a parade feting its first championship since 1986.
Lindor can dig it.
“New York is a city that’s always hungry and wants more,” he says. “I feel like it fits my personality.”
If it all gets too big, Lindor’s family compartmentalizes it quickly, in a manner he can appreciate.
“My 0-for-4s are not as big anymore. It’s all them,” he says. “I’m blessed to be in the position I’m in and continue to try to get better so I can be the best father and husband I can be.”
The family lives in Florida in the offseason yet the kids are at least partially growing up at Citi Field. His firstborn, Kalina Zoe, turns 5 in November, old enough to realize her dad has a pretty cool gig.
“It’s fantastic. It’s my dream,” says Lindor. “It’s sad that they grow up so quick.”
Sounds like another challenge for Lindor to slow the hands of time.
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