Francisco Lindor gets right back in the lineup next night after scary hit by pitch

WASHINGTON — Francisco Lindor has a lump under the right side of his lower lip and a cracked tooth, but he's not coming out of the Mets lineup.

Less than 24 hours after taking a fastball from Steve Cishek to the right side of his face, the Mets shortstop was back in the three-hole in the team's lineup on Saturday night.

Lindor exited Friday's game in the top of the fifth inning, X-rays came back negative and he cleared concussion protocol. A day later, he proved that he was capable of playing during fielding drills and batting practice.

"We’ve been going through stuff with Francisco since he got here today at 2 o’clock, ground balls, moving around and everything," Buck Showalter said. "There’s two parts of it. He’s physically ready to go and he wants to go. I said, ‘What do you want to do?’ He said, ‘I’m playing.’ As long as medical signs off. He’s lucky."

The hit by pitch set off Showalter, who took off out of the dugout as the benches and bullpens cleared from both teams. It was the fourth time through two games against the Nationals that a Mets player was hit by a pitch.

Lindor's wife and daughter were in attendance for the game and happy to see him come through without serious injury after a series of tests. He was inundated with messages after the incident took place.

"Yeah, a lot of people texted me, a lot of people called me," Lindor said. "My wife was here, my daughter, so that meant a lot. Thank you to everybody that texted me and all the fans that were worried about me and prayed last night for me."

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It was a second straight night that a Mets play got hit up and in after the same happened to Pete Alonso in the opposite batter's box on Thursday night. In both cases, the players were donning a C-flap on the inside of their helmet, which was believed to have performed its intended purpose and lessened the blow.

While Lindor said the helmet extension has taken some time to get used to, improvements have been made and he was glad he had it on last night.

"It’s great. It’s in the game for a reason," Lindor said. "Last year, I had it on and off, on and off. Thank God, I had it on last night."

And Showalter appreciates that two of his best players were saved by that function of the helmet in the opening two games.

"It makes you wonder sometimes with those wraparound guards why they’re not almost required," Showalter said.

Finding a spot for Smith

For the first time in the 2022 season, fan favorite Dominic Smith was in the lineup for Saturday's game, occupying first base and moving Alonso to the designated hitter spot.

Showalter said that it will be a balancing act to get Smith regular at-bats. Smith played in each of the team's first three games but only received one at-bat in the first two.

"He’s capable of helping us in left field and first base and DH and coming off the bench," Showalter said. "Believe me, that other team knows when he’s lurking there on the bench too. He can change the game sometimes and not even play. It keeps certain guys from coming in the game in certain situations."

Showalter believes that the presence of versatile options on the bench will be important for the Mets over the course of the season, especially if injuries come into play.

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And he knows it's his job to make sure any substitutes fill in seamlessly when they're called upon. Travis Jankowski and Luis Guillorme also received their first starts of the season Saturday.

"A lot of them that are really, really good mechanically don’t get out of whack a lot, but there’s no substitute for getting consistent at-bats," Showalter said. "It’s a hard job doing what guys do coming off the bench.

"The Mets have had a lot of good semi-pinch hitters. It’s a product of all the good clubs, they have people that can come in and do things pretty seamlessly when there’s a need."

Missing Diaz

Mets closer Edwin Diaz left the team on Saturday after his grandfather passed away during Friday's game.

Diaz headed home to Puerto Rico to be with his family and was placed on the bereavement list, which means he'll be out between three and seven days. Showalter said that Diaz is expected to return to the team on Monday, but the Mets closer won't be eligible to play until Tuesday.

Diaz, who made 32 saves last year, threw a shutout ninth inning with a walk during the Mets' Opening Day win over the Nationals Thursday. A run in the ninth inning Friday pushed the Mets out of a save situation.

David Peterson was added to the 28-man roster with Diaz hitting the bereavement list. The options for saves in his absence include Trevor May, Seth Lugo and Adam Ottavino.

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"We’ve got one where we’d like the game to end up but it requires the other team to cooperate and that doesn’t always happen," Showalter said. "We’ve got some people that are capable of doing it and have done it in the past."

Andrew Tredinnick is the Mets beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Mets analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.

Email: atredinnick@gannett.com Twitter: @andrew_tred

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Francisco Lindor injury: NY Mets' shortstop back in lineup