Citi standing ovation for struggling Lindor
Steve Cohen spoke and the Mets’ fans listened.
After the team’s owner advocated for fans to give the slumping Francisco Lindor an ovation when he came to the plate prior to the homestand at Citi Field, the small crowd that showed up Friday night did just that.
As he stepped into the batter’s box in the bottom of the first inning against the Royals, the fans rose to their feet.
“I wasn’t expecting it at all, but it definitely felt good,’’ Lindor said after a 6-1 win. “It felt good to be able to come home and feel the love of the fans. When I’m playing well or playing bad, it fills my heart.”
And it had an immediate impact. “I wasn’t gonna swing at the first pitch and I swung at it,’’ said Lindor, who drilled a line drive foul ball on the Michael Wacha offering. “I’m a better player when my heart is at a happy place. Shortstop at Citi Field is my happy place.”
Cohen also gave kudos to the fans after the win.
“Thank You Mets fans for your positivity tonight,” Cohen wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I know the players felt it.”
The switch-hitter also got a hand before walking to lead off the bottom of the fourth and again prior to his fifth-inning single and seventh-inning groundout in front of an announced crowd of 18,822 that appeared significantly smaller.
“You could see [the impact] in the dugout when we saw the standing ovation the first at-bat and then every at-bat,’’ Carlos Mendoza said. “That’s what makes this place a special place. All players will feed off that.”
It was a welcome change from what’s been a nightmarish start to the season for the Mets’ $341 million man, with his struggles occurring both at home and on the road.
Last Saturday, Cohen supported the idea of Mets’ fans giving Lindor a standing ovation upon the team’s return to Queens, despite the results.
“Love that idea,’’ Cohen wrote on X. “It worked in Philly with [Trea] Turner. Positivity goes a long way.”
Turner remains the example for the slumping star player being supported by a tough fan base and getting results, as Turner put up terrible numbers in the first year of his 11-year, $300 million deal with the Phillies through July and then was greeted by ovations from the prickly Philadelphia crowd before turning his season around.
And Lindor was well aware of Cohen’s message and the possibility the crowd might react the way it did.
“Of course,’’ Lindor said. “It’s in my face every time I open social media. I saw Steve’s tweet. At the end of the day, people do whatever they want to do and [the ovation] was something I wasn’t really expecting. When it happened when I walked up every at-bat, I felt really good. This is home.”
Cohen’s support of Lindor came in the wake of ugly private messages directed at the shortstop and shared by his wife, Katia
Reguero Lindor, some of which were threatening.
If his early-season slump — which has seen Lindor start the year just 6-for-54 after Friday’s 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored — is getting to him, no one has noticed.
“He’s the same guy, day in and day out,’’ Brandon Nimmo said prior to the game. “If you didn’t know the results, you wouldn’t know anything was wrong. He’s just focused on winning and in doing everything else in other aspects of his game on defense. He’s still been very positive.”
The Mets’ recent improved play, with series wins in Cincinnati and Atlanta and another victory Friday that’s given them six wins in eight games following an 0-5 start, will help take some of the stress away from Lindor.
“What eases things is the rest of us taking on some of the load, like we did the last two series,’’ Nimmo said. “That’s the most important thing to him: that we win. He knows he’s capable of helping us win and that’s all he wants to do.”
So far, that hasn’t happened this year.
Lindor’s numbers have been dreadful, with just a .407 OPS and poor results against all types of pitching.
“At the end of the day, I will always be Francisco Lindor,” Lindor said. “Good or bad days, I will always play as hard as I can and do what it takes to help this team win.”