Francisco Lindor explains how new tradition helped Mets save season

A recent report detailed how shortstop Francisco Lindor and outfielder Brandon Nimmo began paying for the New York Mets' team dinners on road trips amid the club's resurgence this season.

Lindor expanded on the importance of those dinners during a recent chat with Scott Thompson of Fox News Digital.

"We don’t really have the time to sit down and talk," Lindor said about the meals. "We sit down as an offense, and we all talk. The pitching staff, they sit down and talk. But it’s rare when we all have the opportunity to sit down and talk and just bounce ideas from one side to another. By creating these team dinners, it’s the only chance we got besides going on the bus all together to a city."

Much has been made about how Lindor called a players-only meeting after the Mets fell to 22-33 on the season via a 10-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 29. The Amazins then shockingly caught fire in June and, most recently, produced a five-game winning streak before they entered the All-Star break at 49-46.

New York would be a wild-card playoff team if the postseason began on Tuesday night.

"We sit down for like two hours and talk and laugh and make fun of each other," Lindor continued. "Talk about random stuff. It’s the one time that we have, so all about keeping good vibes. All about growing our team chemistry. We had an amazing time, and from there, it just continued to become part of what we’re doing on the road."

Lindor and Nimmo routinely producing at the plate undeniably helped the Mets save what could have become a lost season by the end of June. After clubhouse issues allegedly impacted the Mets before owner Steve Cohen signed off on a fire sale last summer, leaders had to step up this year to prevent Cohen from allowing president of baseball operations David Stearns to shop out-of-contract players such as All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso ahead of the MLB trade deadline on July 30.

"It helped us to get together, it helped us understand each other a little more and play for each other," Lindor. "At the end of the day, that’s what you want. That’s what championship teams do – they play for each other."

As of Tuesday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Mets at +135 betting odds to make the playoffs this season. That's downright remarkable considering where the club was on the final Wednesday of May.