MINNEAPOLIS — Francisco Lindor had consecutive seasons during his Cleveland tenure in which he surpassed 30 homers and 20 stolen bases but said he wasn’t aware of the missed opportunity until after the fact.
Thirty steals in one of those seasons would have placed him in baseball’s elite 30/30 club alongside some of his idols.
“I was not aware of it,” Lindor said. “I never really played for numbers, so I really wasn’t aware.”
This season is different, with the Mets shortstop now fielding questions regularly from reporters about his 30/30 chances.
He’s on pace to join the club, with 26 homers and 26 stolen bases as the Mets open a three-game series Friday against the Twins.
David Wright, Howard Johnson and Darryl Strawberry are the only Mets players in the 30/30 club.
Johnson accomplished the feat three times.
Lindor noted that Carlos Beltran, Jimmy Rollins and Barry Larkin — all of whom were among his favorite players growing up — belong to the 30/30 club.
Ronald Acuna Jr. — a strong National League MVP contender — has already reached 30/30 with the Braves this season.
Though rule changes implemented this season (mainly limiting the number of times a pitcher can throw to first base during an at-bat) have improved the stolen-base success rate throughout the major leagues, Lindor said he’s unsure how much it’s affected him.
“It’s similar to numbers I have gotten before, so it’s not like I am running crazy,” Lindor said. “I am not saying to myself, ‘They have thrown twice [to first], and I have got to go.’ It’s one of those where I am picking my times and when [first-base coach] Wayne Kirby tells me it’s a good time to go, run. But does it help? Probably. It helps that they are not going to [throw to first] seven times in a row.”
Pete Alonso noted that Lindor has produced 30 doubles this season, allowing him a chance to reach even rarer air.
“If you can have 30/30/30 … and he’s really close to having another 100-RBI season,” Alonso said. “For any position, that is an excellent year. And for a shortstop, that’s extremely awesome. That is extremely crazy because there’s not that many types of players that have the ability and do that consistently, and he’s one of those guys. It’s been a great year for him. He’s been absolutely like nails.”
Lindor set career highs in homers (38) and stolen bases (25) with Cleveland in 2018.
The following year, he hit 32 homers and stole 22 bases.
A pandemic-shortened season followed, and Lindor’s first year with the Mets included an injured list stint with a strained oblique that cost him a month.
Lindor hit 26 homers and stole 16 bases last season.
Asked if this was his best Mets season, Lindor said he would wait until the schedule is complete to evaluate.
Overall, he owns a .251/.332/.466 slash line with 83 RBIs.
Last season he slashed .270/.339/.449 with 26 homers, 107 RBIs and 16 stolen bases.
In June of last season, he fractured his middle finger when it got caught in a sliding door, and although Lindor didn’t miss significant action, his power disappeared for a stretch.
“This year is almost a very similar year to last year, I just have more RBIs at this point,” Lindor said. “It’s been very similar years. Even in ’21, it was a similar year, I just got hurt for that month. If I had been playing, I would probably end up with 25 home runs and 80 RBIs. My batting average suffered in 2021, and this year [is] similar. Last year, I was a little more consistent in regards to batting average.”
