"I'm pushing it to the limit" - Francisco Lindor doing everything possible to get healthy before postseason, to play with pain if he returns this year

Francisco Lindor has said he is doing everything in his power to get healthy before the regular season ends. A back injury has kept the New York Mets shortstop out of action for the past week. The Mets will look to get Lindor back on the field for their three-game series with the Atlanta Braves, which starts on Tuesday, although he will likely be playing with some physical pain.

Thus far, Lindor has arguably enjoyed the best season of his decade-long career, and is being considered as one of the leading candidates for the National League MVP. Nevertheless, the Mets have coped quite well without their superstar, posting a 6-1 record in the seven games they have played without him on the field.

On Sunday, Francisco Lindor spoke to reporters following the club's 2-1 home win over the Philadelphia Phillies at CitiField to discuss his road to recovery.

"Every day I'm pushing it to the limit and today [Sunday] I hit that limit and I just felt like that was enough," Lindor said. "The goal is to come in every day and work as hard as I can to reach that limit the trainers want me to hit and then we go from there. Another day, another slow step in the right direction.

"If I play this year, I don't think it's going to be pain-free. I'm okay with that," he added. "I just don't want it to be a constant pain where I can't bend over and I put my teammates in a position, where I'm not helping them as much as I can."

The Mets are on the verge of ensuring their appearance in the postseason. Winning two of the three home games against the Braves will be enough to secure them a Wild Card spot in the playoffs.

Francisco Lindor has produced an MVP-caliber season

Francisco Lindor is a leading candidate for the NL MVP (Image Source: IMAGN)

A postseason berth seemed a far cry for the New York Mets in the early stages of the season after having a 24-33 record at the end of May. Since then, they have been one of the best teams in the MLB with a 63-36 record, and it has been a similar story for Francisco Lindor as well.

The Puerto Rican batted under .230 with less than 10 home runs in the opening two months of the season. However, he has batted close to .300 since the start of June and has produced more than 100 hits, including over 20 home runs.

Overall, Lindor has a .271/.342/.494 slashline for the season so far with .836 OPS, 71 extra-base hits, 86 RBIS and 31 home runs. Furthermore, he has started 148 games at shortstop and has a .980 fielding percentage with two defensive runs saved.

Although Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani appears to be the favorite for the NL MVP this year, Francisco Lindor has emerged as his strongest challenger for the award.