The stunning Mets’ turnaround always goes back to May 30, the day of the infamous players’ meeting.
As they have come alive since then, going 25-12 entering Friday to play their way back into the NL wild-card race, that airing-out among teammates has taken on a life of its own.
But while Francisco Lindor believes it certainly had a profound effect on the team, a moment for everyone to look each other in the eye and hold one another accountable, there is something else he has noticed over the last six weeks with this surging group.
“Guys are hungry,” the star shortstop told The Post. He then rattled off a number of teammates who will be free agents when the year is up, and said, “You have a lot of guys that are here to prove themselves.”
The Mets, indeed, do have a lot of players with eyes on new contracts after this year, whether it is starting pitchers Luis Severino, Sean Manaea ($13.5 million player option) and Jose Quintana, or position players Pete Alonso, J.D. Martinez and Harrison Bader, among others.
This team has certainly played with a chip on its shoulder after a dreadful start.
Since June 2, the Mets are 23-10 — only the Astros have as many victories — and entered action Friday night tied with the Padres for the last wild-card spot.
And, as Lindor noted, there is help on the way. Ace Kodai Senga will make his third outing during his rehabilitation assignment Sunday, and could be back shortly after the All-Star break. High-leverage reliever Sean Reid-Foley’s return is expected soon, as well.
There could be other additions, too.
On Tuesday, the Mets traded for Rays reliever Phil Maton to add to the sieve of a bullpen, this team’s major weakness.
Brandon Nimmo has publicly said twice now he hopes the front office is a buyer ahead of the July 30 trade deadline. Lindor wouldn’t echo Nimmo, saying his job is to play shortstop. He does think the Mets have October potential, and would like nothing more than to return to the playoffs after last season’s depressing 75-win campaign that included a July sell-off.
“I don’t want to go through what I went through last year, a rapid fire sale,” Lindor said. “Nobody wants to go through that because everybody wants to be in the playoffs. At the end of the day, I want to be in a good position where the front office is going to have some tough decisions to make.
“We’ll see where we’re at after the next three days, and then we’ll see where we’re at after Miami, when we come back here, face the Yankees and face Atlanta. We’ll face good teams the remainder of the month, which is extremely important. I want to make it as difficult as possible for [the front office].”
Obviously, there’s a long way to go. So much can happen between now and the trade deadline. The Mets have played strong baseball for six weeks. But those first 55 games did happen. Now they have to prove this last extended stretch is who they are.
“I always believed we were a playoff team, but we have to play the game the right way. I said in spring training the front office did a good job of putting a good team together,” Lindor said. “Now it’s up to us to go out there and get it done. At the beginning of the year, we weren’t getting it done.
“We’re playing the game the right way [now], but not only that, we have kept the vibes really good. We have continued to push each other day in and day out. When guys fail, there’s someone there to pick them up.”
