The New York Mets have struggled from the start, and a former big leaguer says he knows why.
«All those veterans and no leadership,» Jason Kipnis said earlier this week on «Foul Territory.»
When one of the show’s hosts, former major leaguer AJ Pierzynski, asked if Kipnis’s former Cleveland teammate Francisco Lindor, the Mets’ star shortstop, was a leader, Kipnis doubled down.
«I’m going to do it again. All those veterans and no leadership,» he said. «If they’re all veterans there, you’re kind of under the assumption that they’re all going about their business and doing things the right way.»
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Francisco Lindor, left, and Jason Kipnis of the Cleveland Indians celebrate defeating the Minnesota Twins after a game on September 6, 2019 at Target Field in Minneapolis. (Hannah Foslin/Getty Images)
Lindor learned of Kipnis’s comments Friday and kept his opinions to himself.
«I haven’t talked to him. That’s how he feels. It is what it is. I really don’t have much to say,» Lindor said.
Lindor’s wife had a lot to say.
«My husband is such a classy person, I would never say what a thug Kipnis was in the clubhouse. He sounds like a true leader vs. the opposite of a leader,» Katia Lindor tweeted on Friday.
Kipnis and Lindor managed the middle infield together in Cleveland from 2015 to 2019, reached the 2016 World Series and helped set an AL record 22-game winning streak in 2017.
Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets hits a grand slam against the Oakland Athletics in the top of the second inning at RingCentral Coliseum on April 14, 2023 in Oakland, California. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
The Mets are perhaps the biggest disappointment in baseball this year. Having to fill several holes in free agency, they bolstered their payroll to nearly $350 million, by far the highest ever.
However, they are 22-23 through their first 45 games and six games behind the defending NL East champion Atlanta Braves, who just finished a 101-win season, one of the best in history. of the franchise.
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The Mets have lost series to the lowly Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers, Colorado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds in less than four weeks. From April 22 to May 16, the Mets went 6-16.
However, they may have started to turn things around after coming back three times on Wednesday against MLB’s best Tampa Bay Rays, winning that game on Pete Alonso’s three-run homer in the tenth inning. They then beat Tampa the following afternoon to win their first series since April 19.
New York Mets manager Buck Showalter, left, celebrates with Francisco Lindor after a game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on May 12, 2023 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Entering Friday, Lindor is hitting .225 with six home runs, 31 RBIs, a .718 OPS and four stolen bases. He finished ninth in National League MVP voting last season with his 26 home runs and 107 RBI.