Francisco Lindor has been a good player for the 17-18 New York Mets.
He is showing his usual elite defense, he has five home runs and four stolen bases, not to mention an above-average 110 wRC+ (100 is considered league-average offensive performance).
However, everybody that has seen him play over the last decade knows he has the potential for much more than a .217/.320/.426 line.
A big part of his problems stem from a relatively new issue: strikeouts.
During his stellar MLB career, Lindor hasn’t had issues making contact in the past.
His career strikeout rate is an above-average 15.6%.
This year, however, it has jumped to a whopping 25.3%, up from 18.8% last year and 18.1% in 2021.
“Francisco Lindor has struck out 25.3 percent of the time so far this season. It was 18.8 percent last year, 18.3 percent in his first season with the Mets. Was generally around 15 percent in Cleveland,” NBC Sports Edge’s DJ Short tweeted.
Francisco Lindor has struck out 25.3 percent of the time so far this season.
It was 18.8 percent last year, 18.3 percent in his first season with the Mets. Was generally around 15 percent in Cleveland.
— D.J. Short (@djshort) May 8, 2023
When a hitter experiments a huge increase in strikeouts, it usually has a negative impact on his batting average.
That’s the logic: the less contact a hitter makes, the lower his batting average will be.
It’s probably the main thing behind Lindor’s .217 batting average for the season.
It’s probably just a blip (it’s still early to say he is now a hitter who strikes out in a quarter of his plate appearances), but the Mets have to be worried in watching his strikeout trend.
After all, he is under contract for a long time, and is considered the franchise player and spiritual leader of the team.
He is too good not to rebound somewhat, but his low average and high punchout numbers are not particularly promising.
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