MILWAUKEE — At long last, Francisco Lindor is back in action.
The shortstop returned to the lineup Friday for the series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers, batting leadoff. The back issues that have plagued the team’s leader for the last two weeks have not completely gone away, but through rest and treatment, the Mets believe he’ll be able to play through the weekend and into next week.
“We’re pretty confident that he is going to be fine,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “The last day we were in Atlanta, he was in the lineup. We felt comfortable. And then, yeah, two more days, you know?”
With the postponement of games against the Braves on Wednesday and Thursday, Lindor had two extra days to rest. As Mendoza said, he was in the lineup Wednesday, but it was all but guaranteed that the game would be rescheduled because of storms that preceded Hurricane Helene. He also got up to pinch-hit Tuesday in Atlanta, but wasn’t needed.
The team arrived in Miami on Thursday morning and worked out at American Family Field. Lindor went through a full workout and completed his full pregame routine Friday afternoon before the start of the series.
It’s clear he’s playing through pain. He’s accepted that he has to play through pain and is willing to do so for the sake of the team, and said he can play through some sharp pains that come and go. It’s the dull, nagging pain that limits his mobility that doesn’t allow him to do much.
Lindor last played Sept. 15 against the Philadelphia Phillies, but he managed to play only one inning. The Mets are a better version of themselves with him in the lineup. Not only does he provide Gold Glove caliber defense, but he’s been the team’s biggest offensive driver this season as well.
The leadership, however, is consistent whether he’s playing or not. Lindor has a whistle in the dugout and he’s been using colored cards to help the infielders with positioning, signaling to his teammates from right next to the manager.
The Mets have to hope he can play up to even half of his abilities and then recover well enough to play through the weekend.
“We’ve just got to see how he responds after playing nine innings and moving around and all the stopping, sitting down, diving for balls,” Mendoza said. “The things that he does that you can replicate, doing a workout. So again, day by day, and see what we’ve got. But we feel good about it.”
PITCHING PUZZLE
The Mets have yet to announce their pitchers for the rest of the series. They’ll make the decisions based on lineups, matchups and potentially, what the Braves are doing down in Atlanta this weekend against the Kansas City Royals.
Luis Severino is the only starter ruled out. The right-hander pitched Tuesday against Atlanta, taking the loss and though he could pitch on Sunday on regular rest, the Mets seem to be leaning against that idea. They may have to use him Monday against the Braves again, which is something they are comfortable doing.
“We’ve got to get through today’s game and then take it one day at a time and see where we are for a potential doubleheader,” Mendoza said. “It’s hard for us to sit here and worry about all that when we have a game today that we have to win.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
You can count out Kodai Senga for a start this weekend or next week. The injured right-hander is throwing again after experiencing triceps soreness in his last rehab start, but there is no timeframe for his next step, which is throwing to hitters.
“We don’t have that scheduled quite yet,” said president of baseball operations David Stearns. “Whenever he sort of feels ready for it, the next step, the next step would be a live [bullpen].”
