Officially, Francisco Lindor will be sidelined when the Cleveland Indians kick off their 2019 season against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday at Target Field.
That, however, hasn't prevented the 3-time All-Star from being a part of Opening Day.
As teams across the league prepared to play their first games of the new season, Major League Baseball released the latest ad in its #LetTheKidsPlay campaign. In the video, some of baseball's youngest stars can be seen giving cliche press conference answers, which slowly grow bolder as the commercial carries on.
"We're going to win this World Series and the next one," Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman says.
"And the one after that," Astros shortstop Carlos Correa adds.
"I guess I'll see you in October," Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna interjects.
"Twenty-eight World Series championships sounds pretty nice, doesn't it?" New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge asks teammate Giancarlo Stanton.
"How many were you a part of?" Lindor interrupts to a room full of laughter.
From there, the boasting gets a bit more personal, with New York Mets ace Noah Syndergaard predicting a 0.0 ERA.
"I'm gonna hit 50 home runs this year," reigning National League MVP and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich proclaims.
"I'm gonna hit 60," Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins adds.
"Seventy," Judge boldly says, before going back and forth with Stanton to the tune of 75 home runs.
"I'm gonna hit 80 home runs!" Lindor exclaims, showcasing his swing and dropping the mic.
If Lindor, who hit a career-high 38 home runs last season, is actually going to make good on his prediction -- which was clearly made in jest -- he's going to have some catching up to do. After it was already announced he'll be beginning the 2019 season on the 10-day injured list as he continues to recover from a calf strain suffered prior to the start of Spring Training, the Indians announced that Lindor had suffered a sprained ankle in a minor league game earlier this week with a timetable for his return yet to be determined.
