Former GM addresses if Mets' Francisco Lindor is declining with age

For a piece published on Monday, former MLB executive and current national writer Jim Bowden of The Athletic scoffed at the idea that the early-season struggles of Francisco Lindor show that age is catching up with the New York Mets shortstop. 

"Lindor hit .145 in spring training over 61 plate appearances and started the regular season by going 1-for-31, which has some Mets fans concerned that he’s in decline," Bowden noted. "Nonsense! It might seem like Lindor is getting old because he’s played a decade in the majors, but he’s only 30 and still in his prime years." 

Bowden also mentioned that Lindor earned a Silver Slugger Award for the 2023 season and finished the previous two campaigns ninth in National League Most Valuable Player voting. 

As shared by Alex Smith of SNY, Lindor broke out of an 0-for-24 slump with a double, his first extra-base hit of the season, in the first inning of New York's 3-1 win at the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday that improved the Mets to 3-6. Lindor then hit his first home run of the campaign in the top of the fourth of Sunday's victory. 

While those at-bats showed some promising signs of what could be to come, Lindor's overall numbers are quite ugly for somebody who agreed to a 10-year contract extension that could be worth up to $341M shortly before the start of the 2021 season. Across his first nine games of the ongoing campaign, he posted a .083 batting average with a homer, two RBI and a .404 OPS. 

"He’s just off to a slow start — nothing more, nothing less," Bowden insisted about Lindor. "Relax and chill, Mets fans, he’ll be fine." 

Bowden may have been referencing how, per Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post, "a few anonymous accounts on social media messaged [Lindor's] wife with hate" amid the shortstop's offensive woes. 

Some may remember that Lindor and then-teammate Javier Baez offered apologies in the summer of 2021 after they responded to boos from Mets fans with a "thumbs-down" celebration. 

"We never know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but I feel good right now," Lindor said on Sunday about possibly building momentum for Monday's series opener at the 6-2 Atlanta Braves. "We’ll see what happens tomorrow. I’ve got to stay locked in and continue to grind. My teammates have been amazing to me. People have texted me, pushing me. … Teammates and coaches, those guys have helped me a lot."