Francisco Lindor, Hall of Famer?

The FanGraphs Newsletter, September 10, 2024 [READ IN BROWSER]( September 10, 2024 Last week, Jay Jaffe noted that Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor had just entered the list of top 20 shortstops in JAWS, his system for assessing players’ Hall of Fame worthiness, which factors in a mix of career value (WAR) and peak value (WAR over their seven best seasons). That’s not the only notable thing about Lindor’s season, of course, as after a slow start to 2024, he has forced his way into the NL MVP conversation. With a .270/.339/.492 line, 135 wRC+, and 7.2 WAR, he may be having his best season in a career that has him looking increasingly Cooperstown-bound. It seems almost absurd, but Lindor’s OPS didn’t take even the tiniest of peeks over .700 until June 5 — he’s been so hot that you’d think he was produced in Brookhaven’s Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. With Shohei Ohtani fighting for the first ever 50-50 season, Lindor may now be the biggest obstacle to the former’s coronation. Given the relatively modest impact even the biggest baseball stars have in comparison to their peers in football or basketball, no individual can really carry a team, but Lindor is certainly trying his best: The Mets have the second-most wins in baseball since the start of June (54), with the offense going from 17th to sixth in seasonal wRC+ over the same timeframe: In that stretch, Lindor has edged out the other NL hitters by nearly 2 WAR. One of the odder consequences of the shape of Lindor’s performance is that it may result in a Hall of Fame player having missed the All-Star Game in the best season of his career. In fact, despite ranking fifth in WAR among hitters since the start of 2020 (behind Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Freddie Freeman, and José Ramírez), Lindor hasn’t made an All-Star squad since 2019. [READ MORE]( [Justin Verlander Doesn't Look Like a Postseason Option for the Astros]( The 41-year-old righty has struggled mightily this season, particularly since returning from the injured list last month. | by Jay Jaffe [Toronto's Joey Loperfido Talks Hitting]( Acquired by the Blue Jays from the Astros prior to the trade deadline, the rookie outfielder has a promising profile. | by David Laurila [Top of the Order: Waiver Wire Roundup Part II]( Let’s take a look at some of the notable players who’ve switched teams over the last few weeks. | by Jon Becker [For Gavin Stone, Jeff McNeil and Others on Contenders, It's a Race Against the Clock to Return]( The past weekend featured some bad news regarding key players for the Dodgers, Mets, Braves, and Mariners. | by Jay Jaffe [FanGraphs Power Rankings: September 3–8]( The Mets rise up the FanGraphs Power Rankings as the season nears it's end. | by Jake Mailhot [New Member Feature: Customizable Player Page Dashboards]( Customize your player page experience. | by Sean Dolinar [A Shohei Ohtani 50/50 Odds Update]( I updated the odds of Ohtani’s potential homers/steals milestone after his powerful weekend series. | by Ben Clemens 🎧 [Effectively Wild Episode 2214: Don't Bean Me, Bro]( [DOWNLOAD THE FANGRAPHS APP]( [FanGraphs & Effectively Wild Merch Is Now Available at BreakingT!]( [ORDER HERE]( [Before free agency, Juan Soto has unfinished business with Yankees]( by Jorge Castillo, MLB [How 5 contenders have defied preseason expectations]( by Mike Petriello, MLB [How Joey Votto knew it was time — ‘I’m expired’ — and what he thinks could be next]( by Jayson Stark, The Athletic ($) [Bryan Woo is Dominating His Own Way]( by Patrick Connors, Pitcher List [@fangraphs]( [FanGraphs]( [FanGraphs]( [RSS]( [FORWARD]( [SUBSCRIBE]( Copyright © 2024 FanGraphs Inc, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the FanGraphs Newsletter. Our mailing address is: FanGraphs Inc 3017 N Underwood StArlington, VA 22213 [Add us to your address book]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](