Today's NY Mets opponent makes Francisco Lindor’s slow start look inexcusable

How long would it take Francisco Lindor to rediscover his power? It was a question many were asking when hamate surgery put the New York Mets shortstop’s Opening Day roster status in question.

Lindor had no problem getting ready to play, cracking the Opening Day roster without any health concern. A new one has started to creep in. Particularly in the absence of Juan Soto, the Mets are going to need a lot more. Just 5 for 37 with an incredibly patient 10 walks, Lindor has tripled twice but has yet to knock a home run.

Worries about a slow start are an annual tradition for Lindor in a Mets uniform. This is just the kind of player he has been. The hamate injury could be to blame, but tonight’s opponent who had the same injury as Lindor is hitting .313/.416/.656 with a double, two triples, and a pair of home runs including one off of Tarik Skubal. It's Corbin Carroll showing no signs of being beaten down by any lingering effects of his own hamate injury.

Corbin Carroll is providing evidence that Francisco Lindor’s slump may not be injury related

Yeah, everyone heals differently. Lindor’s lack of power and overall slow start which includes a 48.3% ground ball rate (about 10% higher than last year) probably has something to do with the hamate injury. Carroll, for what it’s worth, is at 44% but also a player more prone to hitting the ball on the ground already in his career and using his legs to beat out balls more frequently than Lindor.

The comparison is actually a fair one with both hitting 31 home runs last year and having only a difference of three doubles: Carroll with 32 and Lindor at 35.

Mets fans have accepted slow starts out of Lindor and it’ll probably take an 0 for 5 performance for him to start to hear the same sound as Bo Bichette did the last time they played at Citi Field. Lindor is teetering on breaking out the boo-birds, though, coming off of a poor series against the San Francisco Giants. He was just 2 for 16. He struck out at least once in each game. He hasn’t driven in a run all year.

Lindor hasn’t made excuses throughout his Mets tenure. He didn’t try to shy away from his gaffes last week. He’ll be the first to relay how the hamate injury doesn’t have anything to do with his slump.

What we can’t hear in this series is how he’s “close” or “feeling good” or any sort of compliment about the at-bats he’s having. Especially with Carroll present and overcoming the same injury with no issue, Lindor needs to have one of those breakout games where he announces his presence loudly.

In game ten of last year, Lindor had 3 hits and went from batting .172 to .242. In game eleven, he had one hit but it was his first home run of the year. We’ll take either.