QUEENS, NY — David Wright admittedly does not know the inner machinations of the New York Mets’ current clubhouse, but the franchise legend knows that star shortstop Francisco Lindor has the qualities necessary to be the club’s next captain.
“I love Francisco Lindor,” Wright said before his jersey number retirement ceremony on Saturday. “I’ve gotten to know him over the last couple of years. I love the fact that he played hurt at the end of the season. I think it was a hand injury. No one ever knew about it because he wanted to be out there grinding with his guys.”
Wright carried the mantle of the Mets’ captaincy from 2013 to 2018 — just the fourth player in franchise history (Gary Carter, Keith Hernandez, John Franco) to assume that role. They have not had a captain since.
Lindor has been the logical choice to be No. 5 on that exclusive list, which would have been a fitting honor to accept when Wright’s No. 5 was officially raised to the top of Citi Field on Saturday as just the 10th player/manager whose number the team retired.
The 31-year-old shortstop has established himself as the unquestioned leader of the Mets’ clubhouse in his four-plus seasons with the club, providing iconic moments like his postseason-clinching home run on the final day of the regular season in Atlanta last season, and his game-winning, series-clinching grand slam in Game 4 of the NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field.
“I love his charisma, his smile,” Wright said. “Little things I pick up on, Francisco is the first one to congratulate his teammate after a great play or a big hit, even when he’s 0-for-3, 0-for-4, and I think that speaks volumes of someone’s character and leadership qualities.”
Wright had also mentioned Brandon Nimmo, one of the only players on the current Mets roster who played with No. 5, as a potential captain’s choice.
“I tell my son all the time that that’s how you should play the game,” Wright said of the veteran outfielder.
Nimmo is the longest-tenured Met, having been drafted in 2011 and making his MLB debut with the club in 2016.
“It’s surreal,” Nimmo said. “He was one of my mentors coming up. He was the captain. Captain David Wright. He was the guy you wanted to be like.”
Both Lindor and Nimmo have the qualities that Wright looked for in a leader during his playing days, and his mentors were plentiful coming up, whether it was Joe McEwing, Cliff Floyd, or Michael Cuddyer, among others.
“The leaders that I followed when I was younger were the leaders by example,” Wright said. “They weren’t the loudest, they weren’t the most boisterous. They were the ones who worked the hardest, where if something needed to be said, do it more privately. When they did speak up, people listened because they weren’t accustomed to them speaking up.”
