Francisco Lindor has been a lightning rod among the Mets fanbase since signing his record $341 million contract extension before last season, with many clamoring for the four-time All-Star to play up to his contract and be the star of the New York offense.
Well, despite what many assume, Lindor is indeed playing up to his contract, and is having arguably the best season of his decorated career.
Sure, there have been slumps along the way, as he isn’t far removed from a 13-game stretch where he slugged .174 with a .452 OPS, but overall, Lindor is putting together a year in which he is among the most valuable position players in all of baseball. In fact, after smashing a two-run home run on Thursday night to become the single-season home run leader by a Mets shortstop, Lindor now holds a FanGraphs WAR of 6.2 on the season, good for seventh in all of baseball. Lindor is just behind Mookie Betts and ahead of fellow shortstops like Xander Bogaerts, Dansby Swanson, and Trea Turner.
Defensively, Lindor is also in the top 10 in WAR, per FanGraphs, as he has continued to play a steady shortstop while leading the league in games played. Lindor has been consistent, available, and one of the pillars of this resurgent Mets season that has the fanbase thinking World Series for the first time since Lindor broke into the league back in 2015.
Lindor’s .791 OPS may not jump off the stat sheet, but it does when considering the current landscape of the league. This isn’t 2019 anymore, when the juiced ball inflated OPS totals league-wide. That season, Lindor posted an .854 OPS, back when the league average was .758, the highest since 2007. This year, the league average OPS is down to .708, the lowest since the pitcher-dominant 2014 season. Lindor is more than 80 points over league average in that department, not far off from 2019, as shown by his 125 OPS+ this season, his second best mark ever in that category.
Lindor is held to astronomical expectations given his salary, as many New York fans expect nothing but brilliance from it players who sign big-time deals. Well, Lindor is meeting those expectations in 2022, whether you realize it or not.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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