Motivation will lead to a monster second half performance from Francisco Lindor

The New York Mets are looking for something that will be enjoyable for their fans to watch in the second half as their chances at the playoffs are slowly fading. And there is one player who has gathered enough momentum from the end of the first half that can dominate the league in the second half, and it will be real and spectacular.

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor will have one of the most prolific second half performances the team has ever seen.

As we mentioned earlier this week, Francisco Lindor should have been an All-Star. And instead of talking about the All-Star snub, Lindor propped up a case for Brandon Nimmo as to why he should have belonged in the All-Star Game, and it was a good one.

But Lindor has gone three seasons in Flushing, none with an All-Star appearance, though he finished ninth in the National League MVP voting last year, and there are reasons to believe he can replicate it or better this season, and an “I took this personally” tour is about to commence, and it will be fun to watch, but his turnaround started with the family.

Lindor and his wife, Katia, welcomed their second child, daughter Amapola, on June 17. And at the time, Lindor hit just .211 with a .702 OPS on the season up to that point. Lindor did not start their game that day, though he pinch-hit. Since then, he’s batted .338 with 7 home runs, 16 runs batted in, an OPS of 1.137, and 7 stolen bases in 20 games. It’s safe to say that Lindor’s hot stretch could be called the “Amapola” effect, as his turnaround started after his birth.

As a result, Lindor finished the first half with a 3.1 fWAR, 19 home runs, 56 runs scored, 60 RBI, and .239 ISO power (all ranked first among NL shortstops), a 120 wRC+ mark, a .478 slugging percentage (ranked second in each), and 13 stolen bases (fourth). And Lindor didn’t make the All-Star team.

Lindor is playing the best baseball of his Mets career right now, and it could not have come at a better time. 72 games are left, and I think he will exceed the team records for home runs (26), and RBI (107) by a shortstop he set last year, and finish with 30 home runs and 110 RBI’s.

Also, his defense is second to none too. The Gold Glove competition is going to be tough as there are legitimate candidates out there like Dansby Swanson, Ezequiel Tovar, Willy Adames, and Orlando Arcia that may be ahead of Lindor, but I think Lindor will be a finalist for that award as well.