This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
PHILADELPHIA -- Though the Mets are still working out the details of Francisco Lindor’s return to the Mets, he seems likely to come back at some point this week at Citi Field -- possibly as soon as Thursday for their final game of a four-game set against the Cubs.
If ever there was an inflection point to the Mets’ season, this is it.
Lindor, who is unquestionably one of the Mets’ best players, has been sidelined for exactly two months. At the time of his injury, the Mets were 8-16. They have since gone 26-27, staying on the fringes of the National League playoff picture without engineering the type of prolonged winning streak they’ll need to reinsert themselves in a meaningful way. They may never do that, even with Lindor. But he at least gives them a chance.
At Lindor’s best, as teammate Juan Soto put it, “his defense and his bat are elite.” Lindor is a five-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glover who finished second in NL MVP voting just two seasons ago. That year, Lindor -- on a bad back, no less -- almost singlehandedly willed the Mets into the playoffs, hitting one of the most impactful home runs in franchise regular-season history in Game 161, before crushing a grand slam in NL Division Series Game 4 to lead the Mets into the NL Championship Series.
“He’s one of the best in the game,” second baseman Marcus Semien said. “We’ll take one of the best in the game in this lineup every time.”
Semien did caution that “things are going to take time to get back in rhythm” for Lindor, which is one of several concerns still surrounding him. Notorious for slow starts to his seasons, Lindor was in the midst of one prior to his injury, batting just .226/.314/.355 with two home runs in 24 games. Last year, it took Lindor more than three weeks at the start of the campaign to bring his OPS over .700. Even two years ago, in arguably the best season of his career, Lindor didn’t push that OPS above .700 until June.
Although this week won’t mark Opening Day for Lindor, it should be a rough facsimile of it, considering he hasn’t played in two months and will return without the benefit of a lengthy rehab assignment.
From a wider lens, there’s also some concern that Lindor, at age 32, is beginning the decline phase of his career. Injuries have increasingly become a concern for Lindor, who dealt with back trouble down the stretch in 2024 and a fractured toe in 2025, then underwent a right elbow debridement procedure last offseason. This spring, Lindor had a second operation to repair the hamate bone in his left wrist, prompting fears of the exact type of slow start he was dealing with before his latest injury.
All that stated, Lindor is one of the few current Mets with the DNA of a superstar. If they are to forge a path back up the NL standings, he will almost have to be a significant part of it.
“It’s Francisco Lindor,” as pitcher Sean Manaea put it. “He’s an integral part of this team. I can’t wait to have him back and just have his presence again.”