- Mets. Francisco Lindor makes heroic return with broken finger to save Mets when no one expected it
- Mets. Mets' New Demands for Juan Soto in Pursuit of Defensive Excellence
If you get a $765 million contract, it's normal for fans to expect you to do all the work. That's exactly what's happening with Juan Soto, who got the highest g in the history of ball and strike sports with the New York Mets and now finds himself almost obliged to pull a franchise that won its last championship in 1986, before the Dominican was born
Soto has felt the heavy burden on his shoulders and has not started up to expectations, with 11 home runs, 31 RBIs, 23 extra-base hits, a .244 batting average and .820 OPS in 65 games. To establish a point of comparison, last season, with the same number of games, the outfielder had 17 home runs, 53 RBIs, 31 extra-base hits, a .318 average and 1.024 OPS
The difference has been abysmal and Queens fans have noticed, putting even more pressure on the left-handed slugger. To make matters worse, Soto has found internal 'competition' from Pete Alonso's great start and Francisco Lindor's usual stability, the true offensive leaders of the Mets so far
Lindor's home runs, the lucky charm
Juan Soto's presence in the Mets' lineup has not had the impact that fans and pundits expected. To mention just one statistic, of the nine games in which the Dominican has hit a home run, the New Yorkers have lost three. In contrast, Pete Alonso has homered in 15 games and the Mets have only been defeated in two
But there is no greater contrast in this regard than with Francisco Lindor, the true talisman of the Mets. His home runs have become synonymous with victory for the Queens franchise, which has gone almost a year without losing when the Puerto Rican hits a home run
The Mets have not lost a game with Lindor as a home run hitter since July 3 of last year, in a game against Washington. That day, the Puerto Rican shortstop disappeared the ball to Mitchell Parker to put his team ahead 5-0, but the Nationals came back with seven runs in the second half of the game
From there, the Mets have put together a streak of 27 consecutive games without losing when Lindor hits a home run. Their streak began on July 9, also against Washington, and he punished at least 13 different teams with at least one home run in 2024 alone
The party has continued in 2025, as he already has 12 games with home runs and victory for the Mets. This season he has already punished eight different teams with his power, the latest being the Los Angeles Dodgers of Shohei Ohtani and company
The streak from within
During his streak, Lindor has hit 32 home runs in total, because in four games he has hit more than one home run. Most strikingly, 28 of his home runs have come with a margin of three runs or less on the scoreboard, including a dozen with the score tied
This means that the vast majority of his home runs have come in important moments, which has allowed the Mets to extend their lead, get closer when they have been losing or take the lead
"This simply illustrates what kind of person Francisco Lindor is. He is a leader, a superstar," Japanese pitcher Kodai Senga said of the Puerto Rican, who is on the verge of making history
Lindor is just two games away from matching the longest winning streak (29) when a player homers, held by Carl Furillo for more than half a century. The Dodgers outfielder, between 1951 and 1953, strung together a streak of 29 consecutive games won when he homered in the regular season. Can the Mets shortstop get that record?