Shohei Ohtani nearly beat out a National League MVP candidate while Francisco Lindor was sidelined with a back injury.
It's not a surprise. Ohtani is arguably the most talented player of all time. Hitting 50 home runs and stealing 50 bases in a season would put him in the voters' hearts, even if Lindor remains an Iron Man.
What's surprising is how well the Mets made up for being out of the leadoff and shortstop positions during the weeks that Lindor sat out, because they didn't replace him with the most talented player in the world.
Jose Iglesias started the year on a minor league contract and is considering retirement. Luis Ángel Acuña played a full season in Triple-A with a .654 OPS. Lindor felt indispensable. These guys never seemed infallible. So what's happening is unbelievable.
Iglesias and Acuna, who are both out of the top spot in the lineup, have worked well together and shouldered the responsibilities of being a teammate at shortstop. What good teams get in times of crisis is players who thrive in those situations. Iglesias and Acuna are improving.
They weren't alone. The fifth-largest regular-season attendance in Citi Field history (44,152) was roaring and cheering in October, Sean Manaea continued his ace-caliber pitching, Francisco Alvarez's recent hitting resurgence continued, and the Mets beat the Phillies 6-3 to move two games ahead of the Braves for the final NL wild card spot.
But at this point, nothing is more valuable than replacing the Mets' most valuable player. David Stearns and Carlos Mendoza are so concerned about what it would mean to lose their best hitter, their best defender and the voice of the clubhouse that they called an emergency team meeting before Monday's game against the Nationals.
Lindor said the message from management came from a Belichick-style “do your job” motif — “You don't have to be somebody else. Be yourself. We still have a lot of good players.” But the Mets are 5-1 since then because Iglesias and Acuna have been more than Lindor.
“We together [in the meeting] “And I said we have to find a way,” Mendoza said. “Nobody's going to feel sorry for us. There are a lot of teams out there that are struggling with losing guys. We have to keep finding a way. We have a lot of talented guys on the team. Sure, we lost a guy who was an MVP candidate. He's a shortstop, a leadoff guy. But we just have to keep going.”
Iglesias has gone 12-for-25 (.480 batting average) over his last six games as the leadoff hitter, extending MLB's longest hitting streak to 15.
But Iglesias already had the “OMG” magic this season. The current surprise is Acuna. He homered off the first pitch thrown to him by Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez. He also recorded a double and his first career walk. He has started at shortstop in the last five games, going 8-for-18 with six home runs, including three. Meanwhile, defensively, he is unfazed and moves with the grace, ease and precision of a major league shortstop.
“To have a young guy like him do what he's done, it's not something you get to do every day,” Brandon Nimmo said.
The Mets had Lindor every day. Whatever happens in his place, it's clear the Mets want him back. He said Saturday he's been working on his hitting, defense and pitching and is “encouraged that I'm moving in the right direction.” Mendoza hasn't given up on the idea that Lindor could return for a crucial three-game series at Atlanta starting Tuesday.
But even without him, Mendoza noted, no one should feel sorry for the Mets, because every championship contender has had injuries. The Braves, for example, have been without many key players, including the National League MVP, since late May and have been hitting poorly. Acuña's brother, Ronald, has been talking to Luis Ángel every day, encouraging him.
On Saturday, Luis Ángel played perhaps his best all-around game to date. His defense was wide, creative and flawless. The game coincided with the announcement that Max Scherzer will miss the season with a hamstring injury. Luis Ángel started nine games. Luis Ángel is the player Scherzer brought back at the 2023 trade deadline.
Acuña himself said a few weeks ago that he planned to finish out the season in Triple-A and didn't expect the rewards of his contract would come so soon, but he's been a fixture on both ends of the lineup and has formed a perfect double-play duo with Iglesias, and the pair have helped the Mets turn a season from bleak to climax.
These two allowed Lindor to bounce back without the fuss of the team dwindling without him, and the Mets lost an MVP candidate but somehow gained some good vibes and momentum.
