New York Mets Notebook: Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso and Ronny Mauricio
On Friday night, the New York Mets beat the Colorado Rockies in a game that had a wild finish. Here are notes from inside their clubhouse.
DENVER, Colo. –– Francisco Lindor is the epitome of a grinder.
Fractured pinky toe be damned, Lindor made a difference off the bench with a pinch-hit, 2 RBI-double in the ninth inning to give the New York Mets a go-ahead 4-2 lead over the Colorado Rockies that they wouldn’t squander.
“We are spoiled,” teammate Pete Alonso said. “Because with him, you get a guy who’s just willing to strap it on regardless of how he feels or regardless of how how his health is, and I’ve seen him do stuff like this all the time.”
Even after getting plunked on the foot in the first inning on Wednesday’s game — of which he played the entire nine innings — there were no plans for Lindor to go on the injured list. Manager Carlos Mendoza wasn’t sure pre-game if Lindor would be available off the bench despite strong potential he’d return to the starting lineup at some point this weekend.
“Right before the game, he got going, hitting in the cages, right before we went out there,” Mendoza said. “And I knew I had a bullet there at some point, but I knew also he was going to be late, because he was going to be a two-player move, obviously. And the situation presented itself, and he came through again.”
Lindor ran and did some cage drills before Friday’s game. Mendoza considered giving Lindor the entire series off while in Denver, but knew full well it was a simple matter of pain tolerance. For anyone other than his shortstop, that may have been a problem.
“I would like to start,” Lindor said of Saturday’s game. “It will be up to the trainers and (Mendoza). We’re all going to make the decision together. But I would like to start. Hopefully tomorrow, I wake up in a good spot.”
The 31-year-old has been among the league-leaders this season for shortstops. His 14 home runs are tops at the position while his 38 RBI is third-most. It was lining up to be one of the best first-half performances since joining the Mets before the injury, not that it might matter much.
“Special player, man, I’ve been saying,” Mendoza added about Lindor. “Special talent. We’re watching greatness here. All-Star voted started, what, a couple of days ago? So here he is. Continue doing what All-Stars do.”
With National League Silver Slugger Awards in each of the last two years and top-10 finishes in NL MVP voting the last three years, Lindor has never represented the Mets in the All-Star Game. That may all change this season.
Deceiving In Denver
In professional sports, any team can beat any other team on any day.
That nearly happened when the 12-51 Colorado Rockies — co-owners of the worst 63-game start in the Modern Era — held a 1-0 lead against the 40-24 Mets with nine outs remaining.
It could have been worse, especially after Ryan Ritter, making his Major League debut, hit a leadoff triple in the fifth.
“That Pete (Alonso) play with the infield in,” Mendoza said. “Backhand and throwing it on the run, and then (Francisco Alvarez) applying the tag.”
Even at 2-2 in the eighth, Colorado had the bases loaded with no outs before Ryan Stanek performed some magic and got an unassisted double play from Brett Baty at third base.
Before the game, Mendoza considered the team they would face this weekend was different than the one his club swept last weekend in Queens. The Rockies were coming home hot off a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins thanks to 12.2 scoreless innings from the bullpen.
“(Ezequiel) Tovar got hurt, but they got good players,” Mendoza said. “They come in off a good series, they swept the Marlins and they’re pretty familiar in their home ballpark, obviously. You gotta go out there and bring our best.”
Kodai Senga was on par with his performance last week at Citi Field against the Rockies, albeit at 109 pitches instead of 92. He allowed another rare home run — not to Tovar, who was placed on the injured list on Friday, but to No. 8 hitter Mickey Moniak — and left the game trailing 1-0 after the sixth.
“It’s an ace-type outing every time he takes the baseball,” Mendoza said of Senga. “He continues to get better. I feel like he’s getting to a point now where, since the first pitch, there’s intensity there… I just feel like every time he takes the baseball, I like our chances.”
Not to get lost in the plaudits is Alonso, who delivered a two-run double in the seventh to snap that scoreless streak from Colorado’s bullpen.
“He’s been tremendous for us,” Lindor said of Alonso. “I think this is going to be the best year of his career. He’s going to end up with one of the best Mets’ seasons ever, probably.”
Mauricio Mashes
Mendoza opted for Ronny Mauricio at shortstop on Friday after starting Luisangel Acuña on Thursday in L.A.
“With Ronnie we just wanted to get a switch-hitter there. This is kind of like his natural position,” Mendoza said pre-game. “When he started playing his rehab games this year, he played at short and we just felt like adding another switch-hitter into the lineup today and give him an opportunity.”
Mauricio began the year on the injured list recovering from a right ACL tear suffered all the way back in December 2023. His rehab assignment in St. Lucie and Binghamton went fine, then he caught fire following a promotion to Triple-A. The 22-year-old had a slash line of .515/.564/.818 (17-33) with eight runs batted in and four stolen bases over nine games with Syracuse.
Since being recalled on June 3, Mauricio has cooled against big league pitching. He was 0-for-8 with three strikeouts in two starts at third base during the Dodgers series.
His luck didn’t change during his first three at-bats, going 0-for-3 and striking out on three pitches with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. In the eighth-inning, he added a two-out double that traveled an estimated 409 ft. At home in Queens, it would have been a home run; it actually would have been a home run anywhere except Coors Field.
“It’s good to see him put a swing like that. I thought it was going to be out of here.” Mendoza said. “It’s been hard the first 10-11 at-bats. But it’s part of it. We knew this coming in. We got to be patient with him. We got to continue to support him, help him. He’s a really good player, so he’s going to be fine.”
Diamond Details
Entering Friday night, Lindor had a .357/.448/.714 (20-56) slash line with six home runs, two doubles, 16 RBI, 13 runs and 10 walks in his last 14 games against the Rockies dating back to May 6, 2023.
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