Since the 2022 season, many New York Mets fans have campaigned for the club to name star shortstop Francisco Lindor its first team captain since David Wright retired after the 2018 campaign.
Before the Mets earned a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night, Wright was asked about the “vibes” at Citi Field during the club’s stellar start to the ongoing season.
“I think that they feed off Francisco,” Wright said about Mets fans, per a video shared by SNY. “Everything from just the way he carries himself, to the energy, to the electricity, to his smile. I think that’s contagious, and I think fans have kind of fed off that. Other guys on the team have not necessarily followed suit, because you want to be authentic and organic, but I think that…it seems like this team is having fun.”
Lindor is a big reason the “fun” Mets opened Wednesday at 28-15 after they won 17 of their first 21 home games. According to ESPN stats, he ended Tuesday’s MLB action tied for first on the team with nine home runs, tied for second with 26 RBI, second with a .302 batting average, second with an .866 OPS and first with 52 total hits.
Lindor famously calling a players-only meeting last May when the Mets were struggling could go down as a franchise-altering event. He ultimately became a Most Valuable Player Award candidate as he helped the club complete a trip to the 2024 National League Championship Series, and he more recently has performed like an All-Star this spring as the Mets reached 28 wins before any other NL team.
“You couldn’t tell if he was 3-for-3 or 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, because he’s always rooting on his teammates,” Wright added about Lindor. “And I think that that is contagious, and that gets infectious, and the fans see that, and that’s a team they can really get behind.”
Lindor has shown over the past 12 months that he doesn’t need to have a “C” added to his jersey to serve as the unofficial leader of the clubhouse. That said, one wonders if Wright could have a surprise in store for Lindor when the Mets retire the former captain’s number on July 19.
