
Francisco Lindor wins a Silver Slugger Award in 2021
Similar to the New York Mets Gold Glove Award drought, the organization has not had a Silver Slugger Award winner since Yoenis Cespedes in 2016. Jose Reyes also is the only Mets shortstop in history to win the award which was almost 15 years ago. We can all expect a bounce-back offensive season from Lindor after he struggled during 2020’s abbreviated season and he will bring some hardware back to Queens to prove it.
This is another award that is very familiar to Lindor as he has won the award twice, back in 2018 and in 2019. Since 2010, Lindor was one of only two shortstops in the American League to win the award in consecutive years, with the other being Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
When looking into Lindor’s offensive numbers among all shortstops since 2015 he’s among the cream of the crop. According to FanGraphs Lindor ranks second in home runs as well as runs scored, and ranks third in runs batted in. His offensive WAR is also ranked sixth among all shortstops since 2015.
It’s reasonable to contend that Lindor also hasn’t been surrounded by a lineup this deep in his entire career. While he did have Jose Ramirez and Carlos Santana in Cleveland, the Indians largely struggled offensively as a whole for the last several seasons, which makes his offensive numbers that much more awe-inspiring.
On the other side of the coin the Mets have a loaded lineup from top to bottom, and let us not forget that this team had the best offense in baseball last season. Their Achilles heel had been driving runners in which was a mixture of poor situational hitting and bad luck. However, Lindor is going to have plenty of opportunities to drive runners in as well as have protection behind him in the lineup where he will see plenty of good pitches to hit.
These first two predictions thus far regarding Lindor’s 2021 season include a big offensive and defensive season that will culminate in hardware for the 27-year old superstar.