The New York Mets were three outs away from being no-hit at the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday afternoon when star shortstop Francisco Lindor crushed a game-tying solo home run that sparked the Mets to a six-run ninth inning en route to earning a massive 6-2 victory.
While speaking with media members after the win, first-year Mets manager Carlos Mendoza suggested he’d vote for Lindor and not Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the National League Most Valuable Player Award for the ongoing season.
“MVP,” Mendoza said about Lindor, as shared by John Flanigan of SNY. “On a night where we were about to get no-hit, for him to put together that at-bat and to come through in a situation where we needed it the most, it just got us going. He’s a special player, special person, and like I said, an MVP.”
As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Ohtani as an overwhelming betting favorite at -900 odds to win NL MVP Award honors over Lindor (+500). That’s understandable considering Ohtani is on pace to become the first player in Major League history to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season, per Juan Toribio of the MLB website.
With that said, much has been made throughout the summer about Lindor’s value both on and off the field for a Mets team that was 22-33 on the night of May 29. Thanks largely to Lindor’s blast, the 80-66 Mets entered Thursday with a one-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the battle for the NL’s last wild-card playoff spot.
“Once Lindor hit that ball, you could feel something change,” Mendoza said, according to Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post. “You could sense it.”
Lindor deserves praise for being the behind-the-scenes leader the Mets needed amid their springtime swoon, and some would argue the 30-year-old is the NL’s best overall player considering Ohtani is serving as a designated hitter this season. For what it’s worth, Lindor ended Wednesday’s MLB action leading the NL with a 7.4 FanGraphs wins above replacement value.
The 87-59 Dodgers claiming the NL West division title could cement Ohtani as the MVP in the eyes of voters regardless of Lindor’s heroics over the past several months. If, however, Lindor drags the Mets to the playoffs, he could change how some writers feel about this year’s edition of the award.
