Knowing Francisco Lindor would be missing a few days due to a back ailment — and who knows truly how much in all? — David Stearns and Carlos Mendoza called an impromptu team meeting before Monday night’s series opener with their most vital player out for these most critical of games.
The feeling was the team needed to come together and talk about what was ahead of them amid such a substantial loss, even for a short period, due to the time of year.
And three people wound up speaking at the meeting.
The president of baseball operations.
The manager.
And Pete Alonso.
A few in attendance noted Alonso’s passion in talking about how in his time with the club the Mets were pseudo in a playoff race when he was a rookie in 2019 and did not get to truly celebrate getting into the tournament in 2022 because they did not know until the final regular season day that they were not winning the NL East and falling into the wild card felt like anticlimax.
The Mets lost in the first round of the playoffs and never got to celebrate.
And, beyond that, the Mets hadn’t sniffed the playoffs in Alonso’s other seasons.
So, speaking for the veteran players and staff who have been around, Alonso implored that he wants to celebrate, in his words, “with the boys.” Thus, it was imperative the team lock in the rest of the way and get into the postseason.
It was a stirring way to begin what potentially could be his final homestand as a Met.
Alonso is due to be a free agent after this season and the game Monday against Washington marked the conclusion of the final regular-season homestand, a seven-gamer that includes four against the Phillies.
The Mets did not yet know the results of Lindor’s MRI on his back when the meeting Monday was called. They only sensed that they would be operating for, at minimum, a few days without their best player, team leader and strong NL MVP candidate. The Mets would announce that the MRI was clean with no structural damage and that Lindor said he expects to play again this season.
But Lindor did not start Monday or Tuesday.