QUEENS — From a strictly factual and statistical standpoint, Francisco Lindor has already cemented himself as one of the best offensive shortstops in Major League Baseball history.
The New York Mets star smacked his 200th career home run during a 7-2 victory on Tuesday night at Citi Field, taking a first-pitch sinker from Julio Teheran over the center-field fence in the fourth inning to give his struggling side a 2-0 lead.
“It’s special, it’s a blessing,” Lindor said. “Especially when you can contribute to the team’s win. God is good.”
With his “whole family” in attendance, Lindor entered an elite group of power-hitting shortstops — somewhat of an oxymoronic concept considering the prototypical shortstop for the first century of pro baseball was a defensive-savvy, light-hitting player.
He becomes just the 10th shortstop in MLB history with 75% of his games played at the position to hit 200 career home runs, a list that is topped by Cal Ripken Jr. and his 431 round-trippers. A majority rest of the list ahead of Lindor, though, appears catchable within the next three seasons:
| Player | Home Runs | Years | Teams |
| Cal Ripken Jr. | 431 | 1981-2001 | Orioles |
| Miguel Tejada | 307 | 1997-2013 | Orioles, Astros, Royals, A’s, Padres, Giants |
| Derek Jeter | 260 | 1995-2014 | Yankees |
| Jose Valentin | 249 | 1992-2007 | White Sox, Dodgers, Brewers, Mets |
| Vern Stephens | 247 | 1941-1955 | Browns, Red Sox, White Sox, Orioles |
| Jimmy Rollins | 231 | 2000-2016 | Phillies, White Sox, Dodgers |
| Nomar Garciaparra | 229 | 1996-2009 | Red Sox, Cubs, Dodgers, A’s |
| Troy Tulowitzki | 226 | 2006-2019 | Rockies, Yankees, Blue Jays |
| Jhonny Peralta | 202 | 2003-2017 | Cleveland, Tigers, Cardinals |
| Francisco Lindor | 200 | 2015-2023 | Cleveland, Mets |
Of Lindor’s 200 home runs, 193 of them have come during games in which he’s played shortstop, which already ranks ninth in MLB history. One more ties him for eighth all-time with Hall-of-Famer Barry Larkin.
On his current trajectory, Lindor could very well find himself atop the list by the end of his career. At 29 years old and 1,142 games played, at least another decade of baseball could lay before him should his body cooperate. That obviously makes him a no-brainer for Cooperstown.
Understandably so, though, he’s not putting the cart before the horse.
“I don’t want to think about it,” he said with his trademark smile. “The minute you start looking back at your career, the minute you start saying ‘Wow, I’m pretty good.’ I don’t want to do that. I want to continue to put up numbers and help the team win and then I’ll take a look back and say ‘Yeah, I did that.'”
