HOUSTON — Most people will tell you that three games is way too early to draw conclusions on a trend.
Francisco Lindor will tell you he needs to be better.
Both can be true after the Mets' season got underway with two losses in three games in Houston this weekend.
A sluggish start for the Mets continued in the series finale with the Astros on Saturday as the offense collected one total hit — a Juan Soto first-inning double — and fell short, 2-1, in front of 41,742 fans at Daikin Park.
"They pitched very well. They moved the ball, they located their spots, so you've got to give them credit," said Lindor, who is 0-for-11 to start the season. "From our point of view, from our offense, I got to do a way better job to be on base and to make things happen. I think once I do that, I think the offense is going to continue to get better.
"I feel like the guys had quality at-bats the whole entire weekend."
As the Mets fell to 1-3, they ended up with five total runs as they embark back to Florida for their second series of the season against the Marlins.
Some of it was a credit to quality pitching performances by Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown. But on Saturday, they were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and manager Carlos Mendoza believes there was some meat left on the bone for the team's offense against right-hander Spencer Arrighetti.
"I thought we were in between a little bit," Mendoza said. "He left a lot of cutters down the middle that we didn't attack. Then he started mixing, and I feel like guys were in between overall today. We didn't hit that many balls hard today."
Francisco Lindor makes no excuses for slow start
After his third straight hitless games to begin the season, the looming question finally came: What can Lindor do to end his opening drought?
"That's a fantastic question. Everyone is trying to figure it out," Lindor said. "Focus on not hitting it to opposing players. Today, I felt a bit better than yesterday. I think I had a couple of at-bats where I hit the ball 90-something-plus (mph) right at people. Just continue to work, put my head down and grind and hopefully this is not a monthlong thing."
In Saturday's loss, Lindor had a pair of hard-hit balls (more than 95 mph) but nothing to show for it. Maybe the narrative would have changed if his first at-bat — a 96.1 mph line drive — had not been gloved by a leaping Jeremy Peña on Thursday afternoon.
The Mets star shortstop, who opened last season mired in a 1-for-31 slump, feels in a much better spot than he did this time last year. He has hit five balls over 90 mph, taken a base on a hit by pitch and cashed in on a sacrifice fly so far.
"Last season, it was 30 degrees. It was cold. I felt like I was nowhere near the baseball," Lindor said. "I feel like I'm putting better at-bats. I feel like every at-bat as the game goes on, it gets better. There's just no balls that have gone through.
"Last year, we were 0-3. This year, we came out of it 1-2. Rest tomorrow and come back and try to win the series."
Despite continuing to await his first-born son, who could come at any time, Lindor was not willing to go down that rabbit hole for an excuse.
"It's life. I'm ...
