NEWS: Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor is looking to put 2025 failure behind him

Few players get to make a milestone home run cause for a double celebration, but Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor made the most of his walk-off blast against the St. Louis Cardinals a couple of weeks into the 2025 season.

The upper-deck dinger on April 18 not only gave the Mets a dramatic 5-4 win, it was Lindor’s 250th career homer — not a small accomplishment for a shortstop. Only five other players at his position have reached that number, and it’s a pretty impressive list that includes Cal Ripken, Alex Rodriguez, Ernie Banks, Miguel Tejada, and Derek Jeter.

For Lindor, reaching that milestone is further testament to what he has meant to the Mets since the former Indian was traded to New York in 2021 after six seasons in Cleveland. He’s been a force both on the field and in the clubhouse since then.

His 2025 numbers — 31 HR, 86 RBI, 31 stolen bases and a .267 batting average — were nearly identical to his 2024 campaign, when the five-time all-star hit .273 with 33 homers, 91 RBI and 29 stolen bases.

Lindor, last season’s National League MVP runner-up to Shohei Ohtani and his otherworldly 50-50 performance with the Dodgers, capped the year with a clutch postseason run that included a grand slam in the NLDS against the Phillies.

His 30-30 season in 2025 wasn’t enough to lead the Mets into the playoffs, however, despite an outstanding year by first baseman Pete Alonso and the powerhouse presence of new teammate Juan Soto in the lineup.

The Caguas, Puerto Rico native, 32 next season, will have other opportunities to add to his Mets legacy. He called the Mets failure to make the playoffs “a fitting end to a very disappointing season,” but he still has six more years left on his contract batting in front of Soto, the team’s latest prize jewel.

D. Benjamin Miller, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; LatinoBaseball illustration