'That's not him': Struggling Lindor's gaffes leave Mets at loss - ESPN

NEW YORK — Francisco Lindor has not been a stranger to slow starts in his six seasons with the New York Mets, but his early struggles in previous years were primarily limited to offensive production. This season, in addition to his .167 batting average through 15 games, the five-time All-Star shortstop has added a layer of uncharacteristic mistakes.

Lindor's latest lapse came in the second inning in the Mets' 11-6 loss to the Athletics on Saturday when Lawrence Butler hit a ground ball to second baseman Marcus Semien that should have been the start of an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. But Lindor, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner, made a play for the ball rather than going to second base to turn two. As a result, Semien was forced to sprint to second base for one out while a run scored for the A's.

«It's weird because that's not him,» Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after his club suffered its fourth straight loss. «It's hard to explain. And he'll be the first one. He'll tell you that he's got to be better. But, yeah, never seen some of those plays that he's just out of position at times.»

It was Lindor's third lapse in two days. In the third inning Friday, he was flat-footed making a turn at second base on a potential inning-ending double-play ball. In the sixth inning, with runners on the corners and none out with the Mets down 1-0, he was caught off third base on a ground ball to first baseman Nick Kurtz.

This weekend's miscues followed two unforced mistakes he made against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 1 when he lost track of the number of outs while fielding what should have been an inning-ending double play in the first and was picked off first base while fiddling with his batting gloves in the sixth inning.