Laura Albanese: Mets' Francisco Lindor is close to a return, but will it even matter?
Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets looat Citi Field on June 12, 2026. Credit: Jim McIsaac
PHILADELPHIA — Of course they all count the same. When you’re a team that has had its playoff fate decided on the final day of the season two years running, you probably feel that more keenly than most.
But these aren’t the 2025 Mets, and they very certainly aren’t the 2024 iteration. So though it’s mid-June, it’s fair to say that these all count the same . . . *
That asterisk denotes that the Mets are in such a bad way that nearly every series feels as if it could be the back-breaker, and this road trip — in which they salvaged one game against the Reds and kicked off the weekend series against the Phillies with a 6-4 win at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday — should serve as a powerful litmus test and an indicator of whether they’ll have a prayer when Francisco Lindor makes his presumptive return next week.
Lindor, who went down with a calf injury in late April, is set to begin his rehab assignment Friday with Double-A Binghamton alongside Tyrone Taylor (hip), manager Carlos Mendoza said. Then they’ll start to feel things out:
Lindor will play in at least two minor-league games and, depending on how he feels, could be reinstated by the next homestand. Taylor, who didn’t get the volume Lindor did with simulated games, is likely to take a little longer, Mendoza said.
The plan then is to move Bo Bichette back to third, and although Lindor very famously likes to play every day — and prefers not to DH — designated hitting “is going to be a discussion,” Mendoza said. “I’m pretty sure there are also going to be days when we’re going to have to be firm and keep his name out of the starting lineup.”
Regardless, this team will have to play exceptionally well down the stretch to squeak into the playoffs, and Lindor’s return is akin to a video game avatar getting an HP boost — a surge in health and potency with the significant potential to change the course of a season.
“It’s huge,” Mendoza said before the game. “We know what he represents, the meaning for this team and what he brings to the table — his presence, the position he plays, just the type of player he is. But at the same time, we’ve got to keep going here . . .
“I think it’s just good for everyone in there to know that, OK, he’s getting closer because I’m pretty sure none of those guys have any idea how close he was, and now that we’ve got the news, I’m pretty sure those guys are going to feel it.”
They seemed to show that Thursday: Juan Soto hit two solo homers and pinch hitter Eric Wagaman laced a go-ahead RBI single with two outs in the seventh to key the win. Marcus Semien added a two-run triple later in the inning.
Sean Manaea continued to gain momentum, allowing three runs (two earned), six hits and a walk with five strikeouts in 5 1⁄3 strong innings. Devin Williams did give up a run in the ninth to bring up Kyle Schwarber as the winning run, but he got Schwarber to line out to right and strand two.
Complete performances like this are important, even with Lindor set to return. He most assuredly provides a momentum boost, and his bat, his consistency and his defense make this team markedly better. But he’s also just one guy, and he can’t will them out of this massive hole alone.
“He’s one of the best in the game,” Semien said. “I’ll take one of the best in the game in this lineup every time . . . I know things are going to take time to get back in rhythm, but everyone is excited.”
The Mets are seven games under .500, entered the day 5 1⁄2 games back in the wild-card race and, probably more importantly, have six teams in front of them for that third and final spot.
It shouldn’t be discounted that they had opportunity to do real damage against a beatable Reds team this week that is situated right in front of them in the standings. Instead, they wilted for two games and, in the “all-or-nothing’’ manner that has defined much of this season, proceeded to wallop them, 9-1, in the finale on Wednesday.
And then there are these Phillies, who entered the day in the second wild-card spot. There’s a good chance the Mets will have to duke it out with their divisional rivals to gain any traction, and building off Thursday’s win can help inch them toward relevance as they await the return of Lindor.
Counting Thursday, they play six of the next 10 games against Bryce Harper & Co., and they’ve got seven more games against the Phillies this season after that.
The Phillies may be higher in the standings, but they’re not nearly as good as first-place Atlanta, which dropped two of three to the Mets last weekend.
Neither the Mets nor the Phillies are what you would call offensively gifted teams. The Mets edge them out in batting average and on-base percentage; the Phillies have more slug thanks to Schwarber (an MLB-best 25 homers) and Harper (15). The Mets have better pitching, keyed by their bullpen; the Phillies’ rotation is stronger.
In other words, with one of their best players close to return, the Mets have a believable chance to be . . . well . . . a believable team.
Of course, there’s what should happen and what actually does.
“We came off playing a really good series against [Atlanta] and then we went to Cincinnati and lost the series,” Mendoza said. “I think it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. [The Phillies] are a really good team. They got out of the gate slow, but they’ve been able to get back on track, and that’s what we’re trying to do here . . .
“Every series is important.”
Sure, every series is important. But put an asterisk on these next few.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
