Someone call the FDNY — Francisco Lindor’s bat is on fire.
The New York Mets shortstop, a native of Caguas, Puerto Rico, couldn’t be hotter, even though the Amazin’s haven’t had the best August thus far. Though the Mets are 4-10 this month and 3-7 in their last 10 games, Lindor had the kind of week that players dream of, going 14-for-25 with three doubles and three home runs, scoring seven runs and driving in seven more, on his way to earning World Baseball Network’s International MLB Player of the Week honors.
Now in his 11th MLB season and fifth year in Queens, Lindor is undisputedly the face of the Mets, and while he may not approach his career-highs in homers (38 for Cleveland in 2018) or RBIs (107 for the Mets in 2022), by and large, the Mets rise and fall with Lindor.
Over the past week, the Mets scored 33 runs, and Lindor had something to do with 14 of those runs. In a week the Queens club went 3-3 and Lindor put up that absurd stat line, you don’t have to wonder where this team would likely be if they didn’t have his bat in the lineup. If the National League East were a fine French restaurant, a Lindor-less Mets team would be hanging out where they store the wine.
This, of course, prompts another question: When will the Mets finally name him the captain?
There hasn’t been a captain in blue and orange since David Wright retired seven years, and it’s pretty obvious who leads the Mets both on and off the field. The longest the Mets have gone without a captain since naming Keith Hernandez as the first in franchise history is the 12 years between the co-captaincy of Hernandez and Gary Carter in 1989 and New York City-native John Franco being named captain in 2001. The second longest period sans a captain was the nine years between Franco’s 2004 retirement and the start of Wright’s captaincy in 2013. During both of those spans, the Mets were largely rudderless and adrift in the NL East.
While the title is, perhaps, a nominal one, it would reflect the gravitas Lindor has in the clubhouse and with the fans.
Too often, baseball — teams, fans, and MLB itself — wait far too long to honor those who are deserving. Willie Mays passed away the night before the Rickwood Classic. Dick Allen and Dave Parker both passed away before they could give a speech in Cooperstown.
While not naming Lindor captain of the Mets is not a slight on those levels, you have to wonder — what more does he have to do?
Photo: Francisco Lindor celebrates as he stands on second base after driving in a run with a double off Seattle Mariners pitcher George Kirby during the fifth inning of the Little League Classic baseball game at Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pa., Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
