QUEENS, NY — New York Mets star shortstop Francisco Lindor has “a chance,” to return to the lineup during the team’s weekend series against the Philadelphia Phillies, manager Carlos Mendoza said on Thursday afternoon.
Lindor, who is dealing with a lower back issue, was not in the Mets’ lineup for Thursday’s series opener against the Phillies, which extends to Sunday. He has missed each of the last four games after a failed one-inning comeback on Sunday in Philadelphia.
“We’re still calling it day by day,” Mendoza said. “Hopefully he turns a corner to a point where we can make a decision… I don’t want to put a date… there’s a chance he plays in this series. But if he doesn’t play, that doesn’t mean that [something went wrong]. We’ll see.”
Mendoza added that Lindor is “slowly getting better,” but that he would spend Thursday doing indoor work in the weight room to work on mobility and range of motion.
Following Monday’s MRI which showed no structural damage, Lindor suggested that his absence would be between two-to-three and three-to-five days. Friday would be five days which not much tangibility connected to the 30-year-old’s progress.
“It could be one of these [situations] where he shows up [to the ballpark one day] and he turns the corner,” Mendoza said. “You never know with back issues.”
The Mets have been able to stay afloat without their MVP, who was batting .271 with an .836 OPS, 31 home runs, 86 RBI, and 27 steals, much in part to the contributions of Jose Iglesias and top prospect Luisangel Acuna.
New York is coming off a sweep of the Washington Nationals where it built a two-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card race while moving into second place via a tiebreaker over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Including Thursday night’s series opener against the Phillies, just 10 games remain in the regular season.
“When he’s ready to go, he’ll play regardless of where we’re at in the schedule and in the standings…” Mendoza said. “If he can’t go, regardless of the situation, we don’t want to put him at risk. This is a guy who’s going to play through pain. He’s done it a lot of times but if he gives the green light without compromising some of the other body parts, then we’ll put him out there.”
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