3 Mets overreactions from the month of April

2) NY Mets overreaction: The return of 2021 Francisco Lindor

It has not been a pretty start to the year for Francisco Lindor. Has the 2021 version of him returned? Not quite.

Through his first 117 plate appearances we find the Mets shortstop batting .218/.316/.446 with 4 home runs and 21 RBI. If we want to cut him some slack, it’s really only the ugly batting average dragging him down this season. All of us know better than to latch too strongly onto a batting average when so many other things are going well.

Compare this to the .230/.322/.412 performance in his 125 games back in 2021. We can see the power has already gone up. He’s ripping doubles like he used to. He already has 11. He had 16 in all of 2021.

As usual, Lindor is playing steady defense for the Mets and a Gold Glove could be on its way to his mantle. He hasn’t won the award since 2019 yet he has been a contender each year since.

Those who think the 2021 version of Lindor has returned are overreacting a little too quickly. He’s driving in runs. He’s scoring them, too. Entering Sunday, he actually led the league with those 11 doubles.

Many fans are still waiting for a monster year from him at the plate. Even looking back at his best seasons in Cleveland, many might be disappointed to see what his peak may look like. Are 30 home runs with 100 runs scored and 100 RBI good enough? It's a possibility and a more than acceptable end result even if his batting average isn't pretty enough to land a date.