After struggling for much of the summer, Francisco Lindor has found his spark, leading the Mets’ offense to a dominant series win against the Seattle Mariners.

Lindor went 8-for-14 in the three-game series with two home runs, six RBIs, two doubles, and a stolen base. His steal on August 16 marked his 20th of the season, giving him his fifth career 20/20 season and making him the first shortstop in MLB history to reach the milestone five times. This series was exactly what the Mets needed after a challenging stretch and is a sign of Lindor beginning to rediscover his mojo.

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For Lindor, his season started strong, as he slashed .283/.356/.483 through the first two months. But June and July brought a major drop-off, as he hit just .205/.258/.371. A broken toe may have played a role in that drop-off, and perhaps a stint on the IL might have helped to some degree. Regardless of that conundrum, something clearly slowed him down. His strikeout rate rose to 21%, well above his career average of 16.5%, and he struggled with breaking balls, batting just .132 against them with zero home runs and just two barrels in those two months.

Lindor’s slump also coincided with a period where the Mets as a team began to struggle. In April and May, the Mets were 15 games above .500. June, however, saw the team go 12-15, including a stretch in which they lost 10 of 11 games between June 13 and June 24. During that run, Lindor went 0-for-20 before finding some hits against the Phillies and Braves, only to cool off again.

July wasn’t much better. He hit .206 with a 36% hard-hit rate, which would rank around the 22nd percentile league-wide, barely above teammate Tyrone Taylor’s 34%. To make things worse, other stars like Brandon Nimmo, Juan Soto, and Pete Alonso were also often underperforming, leaving the team heavily dependent on Lindor’s production. His early-season consistency had concealed some of these problems, but when his bat started to cool off, the team’s offensive issues became much more apparent.

Things began turning around as August started. Lindor hit in four straight games at the beginning of the month. And now, after another brief 0-for-19 stretch from August 5 to 10, he has put together a six-game hitting streak, including three home runs, raising his batting average from .243 to .259. It’s still a far cry from the .289 mark he had in early June, but it’s clear he’s trending in the right direction.

Lindor’s resilience has been clear in his approach at the plate. He has become significantly more selective and has been waiting for pitches he can drive. And the results have been striking. In August, he is hitting .429 against non-fastballs (though far higher than the expected averages of .262 against breaking balls and .223 against offspeed). At the same time, he maintained an excellent .299 expected batting average against fastballs. The numbers prove he is swinging with more confidence and authority, adjusting to what pitchers are throwing and making better contact across the board.

While Lindor’s resurgence doesn’t erase earlier struggles, it shows he can still swing the bat at a high level. If he maintains this form, it could be a turning point for both him and New York’s playoff push. The Mets’ series win against a strong Mariners team shows that when the offense clicks — even if other areas, like pitching, lag — they can compete with playoff-caliber teams and win.

Lindor will need to regain consistency for the final stretch of the season. With other stars needing to regain form themselves, the Mets’ playoff chances could hinge on his ability to continue producing at close to this level. The rest of the season will test his ability to make adjustments and manage fatigue, and having the real Francisco Lindor back will be crucial for New York’s postseason push.