NL DIVISION SERIES: METS VS PHILLIES

October 8, 2024

Francisco Lindor

Citi Field

New York Mets

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. Your first home game in a month. How does it feel to be back and what is it like when you reflect on that last month to be here now?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: It feels great to be back home, knowing that I'm going to play. Every day I talk to the security guy when I first come in, and I haven't seen him in a while. I said, Finally, I get to play and we're back home.

So I'm very excited. I think it's going to be a fantastic atmosphere and it's going to be a good game.

Q. Yesterday Carlos was talking about when you were injured and seeing you in the locker room and not seeing your normal smile, and it was weighing on him. Through that process, how difficult was it for you? And secondly, now every game there's like a 40-minute process for you to get ready for the game. How difficult is that, out of routine now, mentally for you before you go out on the field?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: Yeah, when I wasn't playing, it was one of the days that I had to shift my mentality. Because I felt like I was not being the good cloud in the clubhouse because I was, you know, so aware of trying to get healthy and thinking a little too much and not smiling and having fun and not enjoying the process.

Even Mendy talked to me a little bit and he's like, Hey, I just want to make sure you're smiling and you're still trying to find comfort in where you are in life right now. It's part of the process. We understand you want to get back and you want to get on the field. So, just go through it with a smile. And, yeah, I tried to reshift my mentality, and it was tough, but nothing that no one ever has done.

Then when it comes to just being in the position I am today, I'm just happy, excited. I'm blessed. Just enjoying the process. Enjoying that my teammates have worked so hard to be where we are today. That everybody is just looking each other in the eyes and just saying, Man, this is fun. Let's continue to push forward.

Q. You mentioned your expectations for the atmosphere tonight. How much can environment have an impact this time of year?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: I would say a lot. A lot. Because moments could get a little fast. They could get a little heavy. They could feel a little overwhelming if you're not in the right set of mind. That's why you try to focus on what you're doing in that specific moment.

So, yeah, home-field advantage is a real thing. It really is. Whether it's the dimensions of the field or knowing the wind or having the whole entire crowd behind you, it's a real thing. So I'm looking forward to the vibes tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing how everything is going to go out and how loud and fun and crazy this place is going to get.

Q. You said two, two and a half weeks ago you expected the back would hurt to some extent the rest of the reason. When does it crop up; on the swing, on running, on the throw?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: It hasn't really been rotating, so no swings. It's weird. Right now I'm in a good spot. I'm in a very good spot. I can't praise the trainers enough of how good they have done their job. It's one of those where if I sit for too long and I get up, I feel it. But it's not as bad.

No one that's playing baseball right now is playing pain-free. We all have something happening. My back, it's in a much, much better spot. I'm not even thinking about it at this point.

I do go through a long process -- going back to the earlier question -- but I'm going through a long process because I'm trying to make sure I stay healthy. It's not because it hurts me so much that I have to go through this whole process.

Q. What are the medical terms you've learned through this that you never knew before?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: There's a couple of different ones, whether it's names of injections or names of the L4, L5, S1, facet joints, all that stuff. I'm out here learning anatomy.

So it wasn't a good process, but I guess it made me a little smarter.

Q. You guys just spent two weeks playing the biggest games of your year being booed with all the good things you guys did. How much just --

FRANCISCO LINDOR: We've got to play well here otherwise we get booed here, too (laughter).

Q. Just to be in the energy of that, now with all the stuff you guys have been doing, does that have almost a physical effect? Does it bring a different energy for you guys, too?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: It's definitely going to bring a different energy being home here, for sure. But at the end of the day, we were giving everything we had on the road, and we're going to do the same thing here at home. It's one of those where it don't matter where we're playing, we've got to go out there and give everything we got.

We understand that nobody cares what we did yesterday. We've got to focus on today. And nobody cares what we're going to do tomorrow. Everything is about today. So this is a great market because it demands the best out of you day-in and day-out, and nobody cares, like I said, nobody cares what you did yesterday or what you're going to do tomorrow.

So it's a good place to be at this time of the year because that's what you've got to focus on. You've got to focus on the game today and that's it.

So I'm excited. I'm excited. I think the fans are going to go out there and be super loud. It would be cool to see a loud meter to actually see which stadium gets the loudest throughout the League. I think that would be something really cool.

Q. Following up on the vibes talk. Bottom of the first, crowd is going crazy, you step up, your song is playing, are you going to take that immediate time-out?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: If I feel I'm a little too fast, probably, yeah. It depends also on how the top of the inning goes. Usually I take the time-out if I know how the top of the inning goes or if I'm not a hundred percent prepared for that first pitch of the game.

But, I know if I don't get the time-out, the fans are going to continue to sing the song. So I think it's going to be a good vibe. I'm excited. Like I said, I'm really excited. I can't wait to hear my walk-up song. Yeah, it's going to be a special moment, for sure, a special day for everybody.

Q. You've been pretty even-keel, content, throughout this stretch. Is this the calmest you've felt across your six playoff postseasons or are you just really good at hiding the nerves?

FRANCISCO LINDOR: I would say, yeah, I think this is the calmest I've been, the oldest I've been in the playoffs. But I also get excited. I get nerves. I get anxiety. I get all those emotions everybody has. I'm human. It's normal.

I just try to be as consistent as I can with my personality, smile, enjoy the game, have fun. But there's a job to be done, and that's winning games. And after the games when I get to talk to you guys, you guys try to ask me how I feel, I'm just exhausted so I don't have the energy to go crazy.

I don't know, for some reason the reactions from me this year haven't been as jumpy or as excited -- I don't know, it's just been -- I don't know if it has to do with being tired or if it has to do with just trying to stay in the moment that I don't have that crazy reaction I usually have. It's just I'm in a good place right now. I'm living the life I always wanted.