Francisco Lindor stepped up to the plate Monday evening in the top of the first inning for the Mets—the first time he’s done so in two weeks. While he was away, Lindor captained team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic.

Lindor batted leadoff all tournament. When his team needed a hit or a base runner, Lindor came through.

Across the five games Puerto Rico played, Lindor slashed .391/.440/.609/1.049 in 22 plate appearances. He scored six times and knocked in five more, accounting for one-third of the team’s runs. He played shortstop perfectly.

After the first game, Lindor commented on the energy of the games in Miami. “It was amazing,” Lindor said (via MLB.com). “[I] looked around [at all the fans], and then exactly the moment when the ball was going to be thrown, I’m paying attention. … I feed off that, we feed off that.” He guided Puerto Rico’s ethos of “putting on a show,” especially in the close of pool play against their cross-Caribbean rivals.

In Puerto Rico’s 5-2 upset win over the powerful Dominican Republic lineup, Lindor went 2-for-4 with an RBI and scoring twice—once on a Little League trip around the bases. He slid headfirst across the plate and was mobbed by his teammates. He huffed and laughed in the dugout. He’s always smiling, but doing so for Puerto Rico on the world stage clearly meant something special.

Unfortunately, that team joy only lasted a couple more hours. Right after Edwin Díaz closed the game by striking out the side, the Mets’ closer suffered fell to the ground during the team celebration. He was carried off the field, and teammates—Edwin’s brother, Alexis; Kiké Hernandez; manager Yadier Molina—cried. Lindor did, too.

“I never knew I loved Edwin so much until I couldn’t stop crying,” he said after his first game back from the tournament. “It broke my heart. I did not feel good.”

Immediately following Díaz’s injury came a wrath of fans wishing for the end of the WBC. It’s not worth it, they said, because players can get injured playing for something like a WBC, as if players can’t get injured playing baseball anywhere (or walking out of a bullpen or sneezing or riding in a cab). Or as if the WBC isn’t worth something to the players themselves. Once again, Lindor led by being a voice of reason.

“I understand how Mets fans are hurting,” he told ESPN‘s Marly Rivera. “But while for so many people the regular season is what counts, playing in the WBC means just as much to all of us. It is the dream of every Puerto Rican ballplayer to wear Puerto Rico’s colors and to represent our country. And not only Puerto Ricans, but every player in the WBC considers being here the ultimate honor.

“We don’t want injuries to happen, but it is part of the game. Of course, this is sad for all Mets fans. And I want to thank them for being so concerned about us, and about Edwin, and I really do also feel your pain.” These games mean a lot to players like Lindor. And Pete Alonso. And Mike Trout. And Shohei Ohtani. And Edwin Díaz.

Lindor returned to a Mets team a little more banged up than he left it. Aside from Díaz, the team has lost Brandon Nimmo, José Quintana, Bryce Montes de Oca, and Sam Coonrod for various levels of time. Still, along with other members of the team, he is setting the tone that Díaz’s injury—or any injury—isn’t what will keep the Mets from trying to win a World Series. “We have a really good team,” he said. “A lot of guys are resilient.” As he did last year, and he did through the WBC, Lindor will lead by example.