If you were hoping for a return to action for Francisco Lindor in the opening game of the Mets‘ final regular-season home series against the Philadelphia Phillies, keep hoping.
Lindor remained out of action for the fourth straight game Thursday. The Mets continue to say he’s day-to-day with back discomfort, but how many days he’ll remain out is a question the Mets either don’t have the answer to, or don’t want to answer.
“Slowly getting better, but he’ll stay inside today and do a lot of the exercises and all that indoors,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Thursday at Citi Field. “So we’re still calling it day-by-day. Hopefully, it turns the corner to a point where we make a decision or whether he’s a player or not. But yeah, nothing new to report.”
Lindor played catch Wednesday and was on the field running and stretching under the observation of trainers, but that’s the most baseball activity he has done so far. On Thursday, he was working on mobility and rotation in the training room.
The shortstop underwent an MRI and a CT scan, but Mendoza said he wasn’t told any specific diagnosis. The manager was told Lindor did not have any strains or structural damage in his lower back, but that was it. So it’s tough to know just what, exactly, is going on with the Mets’ team leader.
If it was a different time of year, the Mets would have to put him on the injured list. They wouldn’t be able to justify playing shorthanded for an extended amount of time. That was something Mets teams of a bygone era did and were rightly ridiculed for it. It did no one any good to have a completely inactive Yoenis Cespedes sitting on the bench, taking up a roster spot and depleting the outfield depth.
But September roster expansion has been helpful for the Mets this week. They didn’t have to IL Lindor and could still have infielders Luisangel Acuña and Eddy Alvarez active. If this was May, the Mets might have been stuck with an inexperienced Brett Baty playing second base while Jose Iglesias played shortstop.
But the Mets don’t seem to want to discuss the IL when it comes to Lindor.
“That’s hard for me to answer because he’s the one feeling right,” Mendoza said. “We thought it was 2-3 days. Maybe not because we’re still calling it 2-3, 3-5. So once you get past those five days — if we were in a different time — there’s a different conversation. But that’s not the case.”
Friday would mark Day 5.
“I think he could be one of those where he shows up and he turns the corner,” Mendoza said. “Like I said, because you never know with these back issues.”
The Mets have said Lindor would need to complete a series of exercises before getting back into a game. A light day of mobility work doesn’t sound like what they’re looking for.
Lindor did make an appearance on the field Thursday during a pregame ceremony to accept his nomination for the 2024 Roberto Clemente Award, but the giant smile he’s known for was more muted. It’s obvious he wants to be on the field, but for now, the waiting game continues.
“When he’s ready to go, he’ll play, regardless of where we are on the schedule or in the standings,” Mendoza said. “If he’s a player for us, he’ll play. But if he can’t go, like I said, regardless of the situation, we don’t want to put him at risk.”
CHANNEL SURFING
The next four games will be spread out on four different channels.
Thursday night’s game was moved to WOR in the New York market because of Thursday Night Football. FOX was initially going to air the game, but with the Jets playing the Patriots, football took precedence on local TV. Friday night’s game will be on AppleTV+, Saturday’s on SNY and Sunday, the Mets and Phillies will conclude their season series on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
The carousel of streaming services will undoubtedly make it difficult on fans of a certain demographic, but with a postseason spot on the line, fans seem to be the most angry that they won’t be able to hear beloved broadcasters Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling during meaningful rivalry games.
Fans looking for a familiar voice can still listen to Howie Rose and Keith Raad all weekend on WCBS 880.
