Francisco Lindor not about to take a day off during Mets’ stretch run

SAN DIEGO — Francisco Lindor can rest when the season is finished.

The Mets played their 128th game of the season Thursday night, and their starting shortstop hasn’t missed any of them.

It’s nothing less than the Mets have come to expect from Lindor.

And Carlos Mendoza is the latest manager to realize it’s futile trying to convince Lindor that an occasional day off might benefit him.

“Trust me, I am trying to give the guy a day,” Mendoza said this week. “The one thing with him is, he takes care of himself really well. How he eats, the way he gets in the training room and the weight room. He knows what it takes to be able to post every day.”

Lindor, who went 2-for-4 with a double and a pair of runs scored in Thursday’s 8-3 win over the Padres , appeared in 160 games last season for the Mets.

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It followed a season in which he appeared in 161.

Those are impressive numbers at any position, but factor in the demands of playing shortstop and the workload is even more noteworthy.

Even last season, when the Mets were essentially playing out the schedule over the final two months, after many of the team’s top veterans were traded, Lindor scoffed at manager Buck Showalter’s suggestions he take an occasional day off.

Lindor at the time was playing through a bone spur in his right elbow that was surgically removed after the season.

So it seems unlikely that Lindor will find a reason — barring a physical ailment — to sit for a game with the Mets battling for the postseason.

The Mets face a 1 ½-length deficit on the Braves for the National League’s third wild-card.

“I train for that reason in the offseason: to try to play in as many games I can,” Lindor said. “I want to post up every single day.”

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Mendoza earlier this week broached with Lindor the idea of resting Wednesday, when the Mets played a matinee following a night game.

Lindor’s response?

“Monday’s my day off,” Mendoza said, referring to the break in the schedule before the Mets play in Arizona. “I’ll continue to have these conversations with him because, obviously, he’s very important.”

Lindor said if there is a stretch in which the Mets play two weeks straight without a day off, he has the option of requesting a later report time to the ballpark for a particular game and that serves as an “off day” of sorts for him.

If Lindor is tired, he isn’t showing it.

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He entered Thursday with an impressive .333/.379/.531 slash line in August with three homers and 10 RBIs.

That included a homer Wednesday (the game in which Mendoza broached the idea of him resting).

Mendoza said it was near the end of the Mets’ last trip — a 10-game grind across four cities and three time zones — that he discussed with Lindor the need to start considering rest.

“He’s so meticulous with the way he goes about his business,” Mendoza said. “He’s so routine oriented. I said, ‘You’re probably going to have to cut back here on some of the workload and everything that you do before the game in order for you to continue to play and try to play every game.’ ”

Jose Iglesias has extensive shortstop experience and could easily slide into the position as needed.

Lindor last played in fewer than 160 games in 2021, a season in which he strained an oblique and needed a stint on the injured list. Lindor appeared in only 125 games that season.

As much as Lindor wants to play every game, he said he hasn’t set a goal of playing in all 162.

“It’s a number that would look great,” he said. “But it’s not necessary.”

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