Francisco Lindor, expected to be one of the Mets' offensive leaders after signing a $341 million deal this offseason, found himself in prime position to drive in a run on Monday night after Brandon Nimmo led off the bottom of the fourth with a double.
But Lindor, not necessarily to the thrill of manager Luis Rojas, dropped down a sacrifice bunt instead, the fifth already this season, which is the most since his rookie year, with this season not yet at the All-Star break.
The bunt worked out, as Dominic Smith lifted a sacrifice fly on the next at-bat to bring in Nimmo and tie the game in an eventual Mets win, but does Rojas like the frequency of which Lindor is sacrificing himself in the heart of the order?
"I always tell him 'I want to see you swinging,' and he explains to me 'I'm moving the guy over too. I wanted to win this game,'" Rojas told Carton & Roberts. "He's got a winning mentality…not because of the bunting only, but a lot of the other little things that you don't see on the field but we see in here, and this is one of them. He's sending a message to the team."
Rojas would like to see Lindor swing away more often with runners on base, but Lindor has made it clear that he isn't afraid to give himself up to move a runner over. Despite the disagreement, Rojas isn't going to stand in Lindor's way.
"When I had my first conversation with him…one of the first things he told me was 'I can move guys over, I can bat second,'" Rojas said. "We were talking about where to hit him in the lineup, and we were talking about batting him second and I told him 'You're not gonna move anyone over, you're gonna bring them in.' This is what he does. It's in his mind. He hasn't really gotten hot yet, but I don't think it's a lack of confidence. Just wanting to move the guy over."
Lindor has struggled for almost all of his debut season with the Mets, slashing .219/.318/.358 with a 92 OPS+, all of which would be career lows. But he has found success with runners on base, posting a career-high 15.9 percent walk rate with a .386 OBP and a 136 wRC+, also career highs. Still, he has elected to drop down a bunt in potential run-scoring situations.
Is his bunt-happy approach a product of a lack of confidence in what has been his worst offensive season?
"No chance," Rojas said. "There's no lack of confidence there. I can tell you that. It's his mindset. This is a winning player, and his mindset is to do something for the team. His mindset is to get the guy over. He believes this is part of his game."
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