Francisco Lindor might not have been an All-Star this season, but he is taking home some major end-of-year hardware.
The Mets star won the National League Silver Slugger at shortstop on Thursday, beating out Dansby Swanson (Cubs), Xander Bogaerts (Padres) and Trea Turner (Phillies).
It’s the third time Lindor has won the honor after winning it twice with Cleveland.
Lindor became just the fourth Met and first shortstop in franchise history to join the 30-30 club, finishing with 31 homers and 31 stolen bases.
In the final days of the season, Lindor was three homers shy of getting into the exclusive company but broke through with three blasts across a Sept. 27 doubleheader, finishing the job with a blast off the Marlins’ Johnny Cueto.
“It means a lot to me,” Lindor said after the late-season twinbill. “I don’t really play for numbers, but it’s really hard not to play for numbers here in New York. Numbers come up a lot here.”
He finished the season with a .254/.336/.470 slash line to go along with 98 RBIs.
His 6.0 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), according to Fangraphs, was the best among NL shortstops this season.
The 29-year-old struggled through the first two or so months of the season, particularly in May when he slumped to the tune of a .685 OPS.
From June on, though, Lindor was one of the team’s most consistent bats, having an ops above .800 for the final three-plus months.
When Swanson was removed from the NL All-Star roster, he was replaced by Diamondbacks infielder Geraldo Perdomo, though Lindor’s Mets teammates felt it should’ve been the New York shortstop.
“[Lindor] is a leader and look at his numbers,” Daniel Vogelbach told The Post in July. “He posts up every single day, he plays every single day. The All-Star game is the best players in the big leagues and Francisco Lindor is one of the best players in the big leagues.”
Since coming to the Mets before the 2021 blockbuster deal with the Guardians, Lindor has 77 homers, 268 RBIs and a .780 OPS.
Pete Alonso was up for the award at first base but lost out to Matt Olson of the Braves.
Source
