Francisco Lindor and the New York Mets

New York Mets manager Joey Cora was preparing for a game in St. Louis last week when Max Scherzer approached him with ideas about defensive positioning, about where to place the team’s infielders in specific ball counts and strikeouts against specific opponents.

Cora loved it, but had to tell Scherzer to wait. “Right now, I’m getting ready for today’s game, to play against the Cardinals,” Cora said, chuckling, “and Max was talking about what he would do when he pitched against the Phillies.” In five days.

Such is life with the 2022 Mets so far. An enthusiastic daily pursuit of excellence within a new culture, fostered by new stars, a new manager, a new coaching staff and by the renewal of holdovers, most notably shortstop Francisco Lindor.

The Mets are constantly discussing the smaller details, the nuances of the game, like Scherzer, who had been researching analytical data on the Phillies before his start; or Lindor, who approached manager Buck Showalter in the dugout the other day and asked what he should do if there was a long hit bouncing off the outfield wall. Would Showalter prefer Lindor to chase the baseball or position himself for a relay?

“They’re coming together quickly,” said Wayne Kirby, in his first season as the Mets’ first base coach. “I didn’t think it would work out so quickly. In spring training, we gave them the information, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do.

“The nice thing about Buck is he says, ‘We’ll talk about it, we’ll show them, and then we’ll do it.’ The kids were hooked on [the details] right away.”

The two-word mantra Showalter and his staff have instilled in their players, posted in their clubhouse, is uncomplicated: Play better.

And so far, it seems to be working. On Monday, in a comeback against the Cardinals, the Mets scored five runs in the ninth inning. It started when Mark Canha, one of the veterans in the front office’s crosshairs over the winter, rallied from an 0-2 count and drew a walk on a throwing error. When Cardinals closer Giovanny Gallegos was late to cover first base, Dom Smith beat the throw with a diving header,and Jeff McNeil, who had reached second base on a hard slide, easily beat the throw to the plate to score the go-ahead run.

“I feel like it shows the identity of our team, especially with what Buck preaches to us every day. We’re a resilient team,” Smith told the media after the game. “I feel like we’re in it until the last pitch every night….. I feel like it just showed our DNA and some of who we are.”

As Showalter and the coaches returned to a happy dressing room after the win, Showalter heard someone say aloud, “Well, that was fun.” The Mets have a 15-6 record and lead the National League East Division (and all of baseball), a far cry from the struggles of the 2021 season, when no one seemed to be having any fun at all. Last year, the Mets’ season was defined by what went wrong: the booing of Lindor as he went through a season-long slump, the infamous thumbs-down gestures and forced apologies that followed, the front office firings.

Lindor took the brunt of the heat during his disastrous inaugural season. The perception of the shortstop last year, among some in the Mets organization, was that he was simply overwhelmed. By the weight of expectations associated with signing his $341 million contract. By the daily scrutiny that hits every superstar who lands in New York, from A-Rod to Kevin Durant. For the Mets’ competitive needs, as Lindor struggled with swing problems in 2021. As he floundered, fans booed him and Lindor responded poorly.

Lindor’s problems were so evident that late last season, Giancarlo Stanton, who knows firsthand about the scrutiny from fans and media, stopped his base running after connecting on a home run in the middle of a game to effectively lecture Lindor, who Stanton believed was taking out his frustration from his season on the Yankees during the Subway Series, on how to do a better job of coping.

The new staff members thought that when spring training began, Lindor was ready to bounce back. As Showalter prepared for his first meeting with Lindor, the manager had a mental list of topics he intended to discuss, but Lindor stepped in and talked about the job he wanted to do, what he wanted to accomplish. After listening, Showalter felt that Lindor had covered almost everything Showalter wanted to discuss. The only thing he added was that he didn’t want Lindor to worry about anything other than being the best version of himself.

In Showalter’s eyes, Lindor is, at his core, a baseball junkie, open to learning, open to ideas. Earlier this season, Lindor approached first base and Kirby yelled “READ, READ, READ!” at him. Later, Lindor approached Kirby and asked him what he meant by that word, and Kirby realized he hadn’t explained his expletive to the player. Kirby usually yells “RIGHT HERE” to base runners. In other words, stay right here, at first. “Read,” however, means “Read the fielder”: see if he misses the ball; then make your decision on whether to advance.

Cora, who has been connected to Lindor for years, through his roots in Puerto Rico, shares a love of preparation with the shortstop. “Joey loves to work,” Kirby said, “and all those infielders get their work, they’re out there making the most of that relationship. Francisco wants to know everything, he wants to embrace everything.”

“He’s a lot more relaxed,” Cora said of Lindor. “He knows he has players around him, all he has to be is Lindor. That’s it.”

That’s also due in large part to Billy Eppler, who was hired to be the Mets’ new general manager in mid-November of last year, just two weeks before the owners’ deadline for the players’ lockout. Eppler didn’t have time to delve into what went wrong in 2021, or to seriously begin the search for the team’s next manager, or even to move his family. Instead, he focused on adding talent in a substantial way, and it wasn’t just about offensive production or pitching. He intended to bring in the right guys, veterans who would augment and shape the dressing room culture.

Like Starling Marte and Canha, who could hit and field but also had reputations as serious professionals. Like Scherzer, a future Hall of Famer who was the best starting pitcher available, legendary for his intensity on the mound and his emotional investment in preparation and in his teammates. And like Eduardo Escobar, a 32-year-old known for his versatility and for making the All-Star team last summer, but also for the energy and joy he conveyed every day he entered the clubhouse, reflected in Escobar’s TikTok dances and other social media posts.

The Mets signed those four players at a cost of $254.5 million, and they have fully manifested themselves the way owner Steve Cohen and Eppler had hoped.

Scherzer will pitch against the Phillies on Major League Sunday in the midst of the best start of his career; he is averaging just four hits allowed per nine innings, and has allowed one home run in 94 at-bats by his opponents. Canha has a .424 slugging percentage. Marte has scored 12 runs in 19 games. Escobar has a .388 OBP and, as Showalter said, “has his nose buried every day in the work he does, and he walks through the door every day with the same level of competitiveness.”

And the new support around Lindor has also improved the Mets’ star shortstop’s production. Lindor’s early-season adjusted OPS+ is 155, a scale where 100 is average, and he’s already scored 12 runs and driven in 13, with nine extra-base hits. The Mets almost certainly can’t get to where Cohen wants them to go without this kind of production from their highest-paid player.

Marte, Canha and Escobar have bolstered the depth of the lineup, so Lindor’s success or failure at the plate on any given day is less important. Scherzer, Canha and Escobar are adept at dealing with the media, which lightens the need for Lindor to be available. Escobar and the staff are consistent in their daily approach.

“Billy picked the right people,” Showalter said. “Steve and Billy picked the right guys.”