Francisco Lindor shares your pain, Mets fans.
Lindor didn’t ask for a reprieve from boos he heard after he struck out three times in four hitless at-bats Saturday.
Nor did he pretend not to hear the jeers directed more at him than any of the other deserving candidates during the listless Mets’ 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays at Citi Field.
He just wore an anguished look, also seen in the stands.
“I don’t want to block them out,” Lindor said. “They are expressing their frustration, and I hear them. I am right there with them. I just have to get better.”
Lindor is hitting .164 in 15 games since May 18, including 0-for-15 in his last four games.
He is hitting .201 against right-handed pitching this season.
After having “quality at-bats” for most of that stretch, he struck out following Brandon Nimmo’s leadoff single in the first inning, struck out with a runner in scoring position to end the fifth and flew out with Nimmo on first to end the seventh Saturday to compound his shortcomings in the Mets’ loss Friday.
“These past two games, I haven’t got it done with people on base,” Lindor said. “I’ve hit the ball hard a couple times. I take a lot of pride in it, and I didn’t get it done. But I feel good in the way that my swing is there. I just have to put the ball in play, especially when people are on base.”
The $341 million shortstop didn’t handle booing well in 2021.
He later apologized for giving fans a thumbs-down gesture, with then-teammate Javy Baez.
Saturday, sounded far from retreating to that negative headspace.
“This is baseball,” Lindor said. “This is one of those situations where I’m in a downfall. It’s a constant fight I’m fighting uphill. It’s frustrating because I’m not getting the results I want, but I have to trust the process … and good things will come out of it.”
Lindor said “the more chances I get, the faster I get out of it.” In other words, he is not asking for a day off anytime soon.
“He’s not the only one who struck out today,” manager Buck Showalter said. “If you start picking guys out, then who takes his place? I have a lot of trust in Francisco. He’s got a long track record. Certainly, he’s frustrated by it right now, and we’re frustrated for him.”
One cause for concern is that the normally sure-handed Lindor mishandled a 99 mile-per-hour, hot-shot line drive that helped the Blue Jays to score their first run.
Though it was ruled a single, Lindor blamed himself, which raises a question of whether his offensive struggles are carrying onto his defense. Showalter refuted that idea.
“It might be 95 percent [hit probability],” Lindor said, “but I feel like it was a 100 percent probability to catch that ball. I should’ve caught that baseball.”
Showalter didn’t sound ready to move Lindor down in the lineup, either.
“He’s not the only one [struggling],” Showalter said. “I understand why he gets singled out, because we understand how much better he’s capable of.”