Francisco Lindor says Mets in first place despite injuries ‘gives you a dose of reality’

The Mets are not taking their spot in first place for granted.

The Amazin’s entered their series opener against the Cubs on Monday having been atop the National League East for 42 of their 57 games this season. The club has held onto first place since May 8, good for its longest streak looking down on the rest of the division since the end of the 2015 season.

Yet, despite their past month-plus of success, several Mets players have said it doesn’t feel like the team is in first place. That the Mets won 17 games in May and 11 of their last 15 games without key players like Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo and J.D. Davis has only added to that sense of disbelief.

Earlier this month, after the Mets took two out of three games from the Padres, Dominic Smith said the team is constantly counted out or overlooked. Kevin Pillar said the Mets’ confidence and attitude reflects an underdog mentality.

Francisco Lindor echoed that sentiment about his new club on Monday. The superstar shortstop, who has heated up at the plate after suffering a slump to begin the year, said the storm of injuries “gives you a dose of reality.”

“Health is bigger than the game,” Lindor said. “You’re so caught up in the game, the game, the game. Caught up in stats, caught up in winning. All of a sudden you don’t have health, you can’t do anything.

“So it has given guys a sense of reality, and that’s good because it keeps the guys humble, it keeps the guys grinding, it keeps the guys pushing and it keeps the guys saying thank you. We can say, we lost today but thank you for grinding. So that brings the team together.”

A handful of new faces have kept the Mets glued together throughout their stretch of bumps and bruises; at one point the injured list featured 18 players, including five of eight projected starting position players.

The constant grind Lindor referenced has come from backup players — and sometimes backups to the backups — like Billy McKinney, Jose Peraza, Brandon Drury, Mason Williams, Jonathan Villar and Pillar. It’s easy to forget Villar and Pillar were on the Opening Day roster as bench players when both have continued to carry the team as mostly regular starters through its first quarter-plus of the season.

The aforementioned backup players, especially Peraza, Drury and Williams, will likely be optioned in the coming weeks with returns from McNeil and Albert Almora (both in rehab assignments) seemingly imminent. Lindor said the hungry energy the ReplaceMets brought to the clubhouse will stick around well after they’re demoted.

“The guys we have in the clubhouse now have been amazing,” Lindor said. “They’re grinders, they work very, very hard. But of course, I can’t help to be excited with McNeil, Conforto, Nimmo, J.D. Davis, [Carlos] Carrasco, [Noah] Syndergaard coming back. That whole group. I’m very excited and hopefully we have them back soon.”

REID-FOLEY RETURNS

The Mets recalled reliever Sean Reid-Foley from Triple-A Syracuse on Monday and designated Jacob Barnes for assignment. Reid-Foley, who quickly became a fan-favorite for his quirky mustache and squat-delivery on the mound, was optioned to the minors on May 31 when Seth Lugo was activated from the 60-day IL. He returned to the major-league roster on Monday with a 1.98 ERA through six games and 13.2 innings this season.

“He’s definitely a character,” fellow reliever Aaron Loup said of Reid-Foley. “He’s been pitching well and he can give us multiple innings. So that definitely helps for sure.”

Barnes was DFA’ed a day after he surrendered a punishing Fernando Tatis Jr. grand slam and a Manny Machado solo shot in the Mets’ 7-3 loss to the Padres on Sunday. The club had praised Barnes as the long man in the Mets bullpen since spring training before things fell apart in the series finale. He has a 6.27 ERA through 19 relief appearances and 18.2 innings in 2021.

REINFORCEMENTS ON THE WAY

Michael Conforto (right hamstring strain) and Brandon Nimmo (left index finger bone inflammation) are expected to go on rehab assignments “by the end of this week,” per Mets manager Luis Rojas.

Nimmo took batting practice on the field on Monday for the first time in a month. The last time he swung on the field was during his short rehab assignment for Triple-A Syracuse in May. And before then, the last time he took hacks on a big-league field was late April in Philly. The outfielder said he felt no pain in his finger during batting practice on Monday.

Conforto will likely go on his rehab assignment ahead of Nimmo, per Rojas. He was running the bases and playing in right field during pregame warmups on Monday. Conforto has been on the IL since May 17.

“They’re trending right,” Rojas said. “They’re moving better than expected at this point.”