Lindor on using the entire field: “That's what I want to do. That's all I want to do. I'm not a power hitter. I want to hit the ball hard. If it goes out, it goes out. But, my job is to hit the ball all over the place.” pic.twitter.com/CxcDSiPYy1
— Ashley Bastock (@AshleyBastock42) May 13, 2018
1. Plenty to smile about
The Indians couldn’t have picked a better day to give away a Francisco Lindor “Mr. Smile” t-shirt. Along with going 4-for-4 with two doubles and two home runs, he also scored four runs and recorded two RBI.
The last Cleveland Indian leadoff man to record four extra-base hits? Tito Francona on July 3, 1964 against the Chicago White Sox.
In the first inning, Lindor recorded a leadoff double. In the third, he followed that up with a one-out solo shot. Lindor recorded his second double of the evening in the sixth inning, putting himself in position to score the go-ahead run. Just when you thought he couldn’t get any hotter, in the seventh inning he smacked a two-seam fastball into the left field bleachers.
But perhaps the most impressive aspect of Lindor’s day was the way he used the entire field to his advantage:
It’s something he knows he has to do to be successful.
“That’s what I want to do, that’s all I want to do,” Lindor said. “I’m not a power hitter. I want to hit the ball hard. If it goes out, it goes out. But, my job is to hit the ball all over the place. It’s sad when you see a guy 5’10”, 5’11”, 185 (lbs.), and they shift to him. I want to hit the ball all over the place. I don’t want a shift on me.”
His double in the first inning extended his hitting streak to 13 games. It’s the second-longest active hit streak in Major League Baseball, and ties a career-high for Lindor. Across the streak, he’s batting .458 (27-for-59), and according to manager Terry Francona, there isn’t just one thing that Lindor has done well.
“I don’t think it’s one element, I think it’s a lot of elements,” he said. “I think he’s a really good hitter, and like I said, when you spray the ball around from foul pole to foul pole, you’re going to get hits that other guys don’t.”
Tito on Lindor’s 13-game hit streak: “I don’t think it’s one element I think it’s a lot of different elements” pic.twitter.com/8OEbfxKFz4
— Ashley Bastock (@AshleyBastock42) May 13, 2018
So what does all of this mean, other than a Tribe win? Lindor is the first player this season to record four extra-base hits in one game. It was the third four-hit game of his career, and the first four-run game of his career. The two homers give him 12 for the season, and as T.J. Zuppe of The Athletic pointed out, this is by far the quickest he’s reached that mile-marker. In 2015, it took him 95 games and in 2016 it took him 92. Last year it took him 50, which pales in comparison to the 38 games he needed this season.
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