Francisco Lindor did not let the final day of the season turn into a long wait. After a one-hour rain delay at Nationals Park, the Mets shortstop stepped in during the second inning and drove himself into a rare corner of baseball history with the 300th home run of his career.
Key takeaways
- Lindor hit career homer No. 300 against Nationals left-hander DJ Herz in the Mets’ season finale.
- The blast was his 21st home run of the year and ended a 13-game stretch without one.
- Statcast measured the drive at 409 feet, with an exit velocity of 110.8 mph to left field.
- Ronny Mauricio homered immediately before Lindor, giving New York consecutive second-inning shots.
- Only five players had spent at least half their games at shortstop when reaching 300 career homers.
A milestone swing after the weather cleared
Lindor entered Game 162 on Sunday still looking for the one swing that would put No. 300 on his career ledger. His most recent homers had come Sept. 12, when he went deep twice at Yankee Stadium, but he had gone 13 games without another before arriving in Washington.
The weather delayed the start by an hour, though Lindor’s wait did not extend far into the afternoon once play began. In the top of the second, he turned on a pitch from Herz and sent it to left field. The ball traveled an estimated 409 feet and left his bat at 110.8 mph.
The homer also gave Lindor 21 on the season, a fittingly emphatic marker for one of the game’s most productive everyday shortstops.
Shortstop company and a Mets power burst
Lindor became the fifth player who had played at least 50 percent of his games at shortstop at the time he reached 300 homers. The other four are Ernie Banks, Cal Ripken Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Tejada.
His place on the switch-hitting list is just as notable. Lindor is the 11th switch-hitter to accumulate 300 career home runs, and only the second among that group with at least 200 stolen bases. Carlos Beltrán is the other.
The Mets made the second inning a loud one before Lindor ever stepped to the plate. Mauricio opened the home-run sequence, then Lindor followed him over the fence. Mauricio’s shot continued his own brief power surge: it was his third homer in three consecutive at-bats, dating to the two he hit in New York’s 7-1 victory on Saturday.
