While Francisco Lindor has been out with a back injury, Shohei Ohtani pretty much obliterated all NL MVP conversation.
No surprise there. Ohtani is the most talented player in the world — arguably ever. Once he soared beyond 50 homers and 50 steals in a season, Ohtani was going to own the voters even if Lindor had remained an Iron Man.
The surprise is how well the Mets have compensated for Lindor missing from the leadoff spot and shortstop in the week in which he has not played. Because they have not replaced Lindor with the most talented players in the world.
Jose Iglesias began this year on a minor league contract and contemplating retirement. Luisangel Acuna managed a .654 OPS in a full season at Triple-A. Lindor felt indispensable. Those players did not seem infallible. So what is happening is incredible.
Iglesias out of the top spot in the lineup and Acuna at shortstop are tag-teaming the responsibilities brilliantly. What good teams get in times of crisis are players rising to the moment. Iglesias and Acuna are rising.
They are not alone. Fueled by the fifth-largest regular-season crowd in Citi Field history (44,152) turning up October passion and volume, Sean Manaea continued to pitch like an ace and Francisco Alvarez’s recent hitting revival persisted in what became a 6-3 victory over the Phillies that kept the Mets two games ahead of the Braves for the NL’s final wild card.
But in this moment there is nothing as valuable as what is going into replacing the most valuable Mets player. David Stearns and Carlos Mendoza had been concerned enough about what it meant to lose their best hitter, defender and clubhouse voice that they called an impromptu team meeting before Monday’s game against the Nationals.
Lindor said the message from management was from the Belichick-ian “Do your job” motif: “You don’t have to be anybody else. Be yourself. We still have a lot of good players.” Yet, the Mets are 5-1 since then because Iglesias and Acuna have been Lindor — and more.
“We got together [in the meeting] and said we needed to find a way,” Mendoza said. “Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. There’s a lot of teams out there that are going through it, missing players, and you’ve got to continue to find a way. There’s a lot of talent in that room. Yeah, we lost a guy that was in the MVP conversation — he’s the shortstop, the leadoff guy. But, hey, we’ve got to keep going.”
In these past six games as the leadoff hitter, Iglesias has extended his current MLB-longest hitting streak to 15 games by going 12-for-25 (.480).
But there already was “OMG” magic around this season for Iglesias. The current revelation is Acuna. He homered on the first pitch he ever saw from Phillies lefty Ranger Suarez. He added a double and his first career walk. He has started the last five games at short and is 8-for-18 with six extra-base hits, including three homers. Meanwhile, defensively he is unflappable and moves like a major league shortstop — graceful, with an easy, accurate arm.
“To ask a young guy like him to come in and step in and do what he’s done, you don’t get that every day,” Brandon Nimmo said.
What the Mets had daily was Lindor and regardless of what is occurring in his stead, they obviously want him back. He intensified his hitting, fielding and throwing Saturday and said, “It is giving me encouragement that I am trending in the right direction.” Mendoza did not discourage thinking that Lindor could return for the critical three-game series in Atlanta that begins Tuesday.
But even without him, Mendoza is correct in noting no one will feel sorry for the Mets because every contender is dealing with injury loss. The Braves, for example, have been devastated, playing without many key players including the reigning NL MVP since late May. That is Acuna’s older brother Ronald, who speaks to Luisangel daily to offer encouragement.
Luisangel had perhaps his best all-around game yet — his defense was expansive, creative and flawless — on Saturday, coinciding with the revelation that Max Scherzer was being shut down for the season with a hamstring ailment. He had nine starts. Luisangel was the return for Scherzer at the 2023 trade deadline.
Even Acuna did not expect to be providing returns on the deal so soon, saying as of a few weeks ago, he anticipated completing his year at Triple-A. Instead, he is forming lineup bookends (first and last) and a pristine double-play combo with Iglesias, that pair helping to turn crisis into yet another crest on this Mets season.
That duo is allowing Lindor to heal without the noise that the team is plummeting without him. The Mets lost an MVP candidate, yet somehow gained good vibes and momentum.
