NEW YORK — A day after getting one superstar back from a calf strain, the Mets put another one on the injured list with a calf strain. And the early expectation is that Francisco Lindor’s injury will force him to take more time, perhaps significantly more time, to return than Juan Soto’s.
While the Mets have yet to provide a specific timeline for Lindor’s return or a grade of severity for his strain, manager Carlos Mendoza said the shortstop will be out “for quite a bit” and for longer than the 19 days Soto missed with his own calf strain.
“Juan was kind of the best-case scenario,” Mendoza said of Soto’s Grade 1 strain. “I don’t think we’re dealing with the same thing here.”
“There’s definitely some level of concern,” said Lindor, who hadn’t been on the IL since 2021. “I’ll be out for a minute. I don’t know how long.”
Lindor suffered the injury rounding third base in the Mets’ 3-2 streak-breaking win over the Twins on Wednesday night. He was able to muster enough speed to score safely, but he stayed on the ground for an extra beat after sliding feet-first into home.
“I knew something happened,” he said. “I was just hoping it wasn’t that bad.”
Lindor was off to a slow start, hitting .226 with a .314 on-base percentage and .669 OPS so far this season. More unusual were the mental lapses he’s shown in the field, like forgetting the number of outs or not charging a routine ground ball.
Lindor strained his right calf back in 2019 while preparing for spring training with Cleveland. That injury was announced on February 8, with Lindor missing 18 regular-season games and debuting on April 20. He did say this injury didn’t feel as severe in the immediate aftermath as that one did.
This has been as difficult a physical stretch as Lindor has endured in the major leagues. He had surgery on his elbow to start the offseason and surgery on the hamate bone in his hand at the start of spring training. Now he’s suffered this calf strain 24 games into a season already teetering on disaster for the Mets.
Wednesday’s win snapped a 12-game losing streak that was the club’s longest in 24 years. Their 8-16 start is their worst through 24 games since 1983.
With Lindor out, the Mets expect to initially give Ronny Mauricio the bulk of the playing time at shortstop. That’s a big opportunity for Mauricio, who has seen only sporadic playing time in the majors since debuting in 2023. The switch-hitting Mauricio owns a .683 career OPS but has been much better as a left-handed hitter than from the right side: His OPS as a lefty is .772 compared to .370 as a righty.
Mendoza said Mauricio will get some opportunities against left-handed pitching, but the team will still consider matchups in constructing its everyday lineup. Bo Bichette, who moved back to short on Wednesday night when Lindor went out, will also see some time there.
“I’m looking forward to seeing him at shortstop and helping us win games,” Lindor said of Mauricio. “He’s a great competitor and he brings a good energy. He’s going to play well.”
“We need him to step up, obviously,” said Mendoza.