The 2024 MLB season will go down as one of the best in Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor‘s career, and now he’s getting the recognition he deserves for it.
Lindor was named a finalist for the 2024 National League MVP Award on Monday night.
He’ll face tough competition for the honor, going up against the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte.
It’s the first time in his 10-year career that Lindor has been a finalist for MVP. During his time with Cleveland, Lindor placed ninth in 2016, fifth in 2017, sixth in 2018, and 15th in 2019. Lindor did not place during his first season in New York in 2021, but has finished in ninth place the past two seasons.
After a slow start to the year, he finished the 2024 season with a .273/.344/.500 slash line and 169 hits, including 33 home runs, 39 doubles, and a triple. Lindor also recorded 91 RBI and had 29 stolen bases. The shortstop was also fantastic in the field all year long, but was snubbed from being a finalist for the 2024 Gold Glove award, despite ranking second in Outs Above Average and range via Baseball Savant.
Among his countless spectacular plays, fans will always remember his ninth-inning, go-ahead home run against the Atlanta Braves to clinch a postseason spot and his grand slam in Game 4 of the NLDS to beat the Philadelphia Phillies and send NY to the NLCS. Both embodied what he meant for the Mets in 2024.
Ohtani is expected to win the award after becoming the first player in major league history to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. It would be Ohtani’s third MVP, but his first in the National League after winning the AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 while with the Los Angeles Angels.
Marte earned his second-career All-Star appearance this year and is an MVP finalist for the first time. He finished fourth in voting during the 2019 season, his only other season placing. Marte set career-highs in home runs (36) and RBI (95) this season, leading Arizona to an 89-73 record, but just missing the postseason.
The MVP of each league will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 21. The Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. and the Yankees star duo of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto are finalists for the AL MVP.
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