Mets’ Francisco Lindor strikes out after deciding not to swing in bizarre scene

Francisco Lindor spoke recently about adding prescription glasses to his game in an attempt to see the ball better, instead of relying on contacts.

On Saturday, the slumping shortstop was mostly helpless in a key seventh inning at-bat against San Francisco’s Randy Rodriguez.

With pinch-runner Tyrone Taylor on second base and one out and the Mets up by a run, Lindor appeared to give up on a 3-2 pitch that ended up right down the middle for a called strike three.

The inability to add on runs proved costly, as Edwin Diaz blew another save in the ninth and the Mets went on to lose, 7-2, in 10 innings .

But more than anything was the odd-looking approach Lindor took to the final pitch, which he didn’t appear prepared to swing at, despite the count.

“He hadn’t thrown a strike [in the at-bat],’’ Lindor said. “I made every pitch a strike [by swinging outside the zone] and was helping him out. My best bet was to take a pitch. It just so happened that was the one strike the whole at-bat.”

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Lindor’s problem stemmed from his inability to pick up the spin on Rodriguez’s pitches.

Lindor noted that he swung at a 1-0 slider in the dirt and after Rodriguez fell behind 3-1, Lindor offered at another slider out of the strike zone.

Each of the first five pitches of the at-bat landed outside the strike zone and with Lindor not picking up the spin of the breaking ball, he opted for a different approach.

“None of the pitches were strikes,’’ Lindor said of the pitches prior to the final slider with a full count. “I took that pitch and I’ve got to live with it.”

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Lindor also grounded into a force out in the bottom of the ninth and was unable to come up with Pete Alonso’s errant throw to second in the top of the 10th as the game unravelled.

It was another rough day in a season filled with them for Lindor, who said earlier he’d had difficulty with the contacts he wears throughout the season — a season in which he’s put up the worst offensive numbers of his career.

Lindor attributed the issue to his eyes drying up when it’s windy and he thought he was seeing better on days when he wore non-prescription tinted glasses over the contacts.

“So I figured I would be better with the [prescription] glasses,’’ Lindor said. “We’ll see if it helps.”

But Lindor said the eyewear is not the reason for his rough first two months of the season.

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“That’s not an excuse,’’ Lindor said. “I feel like I’m in the same boat I was last year: I just haven’t had a hot start with the bat most years.”

Lindor’s OPS is just .648. Last June 4, Lindor’s OPS dropped to .688 before he rebounded with an OPS of .881 the rest of the season.

Over the course of his career, Lindor, 30, has hit better in the second half of the season.

He’s counting on a similar turnaround this season.

“I wish I could start better, but I haven’t done it,’’ Lindor said. “It’s been tough. Every year, I think it’s gonna be different, but then it’s an uphill battle again.”

He has hit into a bit of bad luck, according to some metrics, but the results show Lindor has been a below-average player by any standard, let alone one in the early stages of a $341 million contract.

“Hopefully this works,’’ Lindor said of the new specs. “We’ll see how it goes.”

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