3 Mets players testing the fans' patience as they cling to stay above .500

3) Francisco Lindor

Mets fans have been beyond patient with Francisco Lindor. The star shortstop has shown signs of coming out of his early slump. It’s not as far away from actually having some decent numbers as it may seem. A 4 for 4 evening is all it will take for his batting average to go from something we’d expect from a pitcher to one from a defense-first catcher. Compared to some of the other early slumps, Lindor’s hasn’t been nearly as horrendous. He has consistently put the ball in play for much of it. Eventually, we all expect him to get hot for a good stretch.

Nevertheless, you can’t mention Mets players and the testing of fans’ patience without bringing up the priciest player on the roster. Fans showed their support for him throughout last week’s homestand. While it didn’t completely kick-off a sudden surge, he has been far better.

Lindor will always be one of those divisive players on the Mets who fans either love or the. Reasonable or not, it’s what comes with a huge contract and equally as big expectations.

Because Lindor has handled himself well, fans are giving him the leeway he didn’t get in 2021. He’s now batting .174/.267/.272 on the year. Sadly, he’s not the only guy getting regular at-bats under the Mendoza Line. There’s Narvaez, of course. Brandon Nimmo and DJ Stewart recently went back into the club as well. They, too, will test our patience. Their saving grace has been some timely hits and games where they single-handedly carried the offense. Lindor needs a couple of days like them.