Mets' Francisco Lindor will bat eighth for NL in All-Star Game

The lineup, which was created by Los Angeles Dodgers' skipper Dave Roberts, sees Lindor batting eighth between Chicago Cubs' outfielders Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong. While it is traditional for younger players to hit lower in the lineup for an All-Star Game, and the National League does have a stacked batting order, Lindor's placement stands out as odd given his reputation within the game.

While its not a shock to see Shohei Ohtani leading off and Ronald Acuña Jr. hitting second in his home park, the spot that is interesting is seeing Arizona's Ketel Marte hitting third while Lindor is eighth. Marte has had a solid season, batting .290 with 19 home runs and 41 RBI, while Lindor is hitting .260 with 19 homers and 54 RBI.

While Lindor has produced 3.0 Wins Above Replacement on the season, which is nearly identical to Marte's 3.1 figure for Arizona, it appears that Roberts based his lineup on stats, where Lindor's .787 OPS is the lowest among NL starters (Marte, for comparison, has a .961 OPS).

The end result for Mets fans is that they will likely get to see Lindor stick around in the game for a while, since most All-Star starters get removed after two at-bats in order to give the reserves an opportunity to participate.

While Pete Alonso will likely enter the game after Freddie Freeman's second turn at bat, it remains unclear whether David Peterson or Edwin Diaz will pitch an inning for the National League. Either way, the Mets figure to be active participants in the All-Star Game with their largest contingent of players going since 2022.