There is no player in the National League, not even Shohei Ohtani, more valuable to his team than Francisco Lindor has been to the Mets this season. It¡¯s there for Mets fans, every single day. No one appreciates Lindor¡¯s talent, passion and flair more than the Mets fan known as Carlos Mendoza, who also happens to be Lindor¡¯s manager.

I asked Mendoza on Wednesday afternoon, before the Mets made it seven wins in a row by sweeping their series against the Red Sox, if he could imagine anybody else doing more for his team than Lindor has been doing for the 2024 Mets.

¡°No chance,¡± Mendoza said.

He was just getting going.

¡°I know there are a lot of great players doing a lot of great things for their teams this season,¡± Mendoza continued. ¡°But what this man has done for this franchise is off the charts, and that means both on and off the field. When a special player is also a special person, in terms of his commitment and dedication, that is a pretty awesome combination.

¡°What is this, his fourth season in New York? It¡¯s so clear that this is home now. New York is home, and all he has to do is concentrate on being the best version of himself -- at the plate, and playing an elite shortstop for the New York Mets -- and being the leader of this team. That¡¯s something I¡¯ve never asked him to do, by the way. It just comes naturally to him, that kind of presence. And his teammates feed off it, I can tell you that.¡±

Mendoza is a rookie manager who has acted like anything but that. He has calmly and effectively been a leader himself as the Mets have gone from 22-33 on May 29 to 76-64 after beating the Red Sox again on Wednesday. And by the way: He says the same thing about Lindor, who has played in every game this season, that Lindor¡¯s previous manager, Buck Showalter, always said.

¡°This guy posts,¡± Mendoza said. ¡°Knock on wood, we can count on him every single day.¡±

Then Mendoza added: ¡°Every so often, I gently raise the subject of giving him a game off. I did it the other day. And he pointed at the calendar and said, 'Sept. 5. That¡¯s my day off.'"

It is, of course, an off-day for all the Mets, with no game for them until Friday against the Reds at Citi Field.

Lindor started off so slowly this season, but he has soared since Mendoza moved him into the leadoff spot in his batting order. Since May 21, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, Lindor is first in the league in batting (.314), second in on-base percentage (.380), second in slugging (.575), first in OPS (.955), first in hits (121), first in extra-base hits (54), tied for second with 23 home runs and third in runs scored with 70.

Here are some of Ohtani¡¯s numbers over this same period, according to the Elias Sports Bureau (they know everything): Batting average of .259, on-base percentage of .351. He¡¯s slugging .594, and his OPS since the end of May is .946. And you know that doesn¡¯t tell Ohtani¡¯s whole story. He remains a wonder of the universe, even in a year when he¡¯s not pitching, hitting home runs and stealing bases the way he does, perhaps on his way to being the first-ever member of the 50/50 Club.

But Lindor, still just 30, is now a shortstop who has hit 30 or more home runs in five different seasons. Only Alex Rodriguez, with seven, did that more times.

¡°I remember going to his place and sitting with him for two hours after I got the job,¡± Mendoza said. ¡°And when we were done, my first reaction was, ¡®Wow, this guy is exactly who I heard he was.'

¡°He was already one of the best players in our game, and all he talked about was wanting to get better. Listen, you could see it sitting in another dugout. But I like it much better sitting in ours, watching him hit -- and hit for power -- from both sides of the plate and get on base. He¡¯s the complete package, and that¡¯s before you see how he brings the whole group together.¡±

Some of this can be measured in metrics, but some simply cannot. Just know this: At a time in the year when the Mets are playing their best ball, Lindor is playing his best ball. There is no attempt here, none, to diminish what Ohtani is doing in his first season with the Dodgers, at the plate and on the bases. But he is a DH in the end, and Lindor is an every-single-day shortstop on a team that has been 23 games over .500 since bottoming out against Ohtani¡¯s team on May 29.

Bottom line? Lindor is the switch-hitting every-single-day guy who is the most complete player the New York Mets have ever had.

¡°This is New York,¡± Mendoza said. ¡°It gets real loud here. But game after game, he just quietly goes about his business.¡±

While the ¡°MVP¡± chants he hears every time he steps to the plate at Citi Field keep getting louder. With good reason.