


When Francisco Lindor is at bat, his mother’s eternal words of wisdom ring in his ears.
“She always says to me, ‘Bite your lips, squeeze your butt, and swing hard.'”
She coaches him on and off the field, Lindor, 29, told The Post ahead of Mother’s Day.
“She has always found a way to get me out of the game in a sense of like life is more important than the actual game,” he said of his mom, Maria Serrano, 67. “She’s always allowed me to not be too hard on myself.”
A native of Puerto Rico, Serrano lives in Florida, where she devotes an entire room to her son’s accomplishments.
“She’s got everything there. All the jerseys, cleats, bats,” he explained. “She has been the person that organized everything, to make sure I don’t lose anything.”
She also approves of her son’s ever-changing hair color.
“She’s always asking what’s next,” he said.
Last year, on Father’s Day, Serrano surprised him by visiting Citi Field.
He hit a home run in his first at-bat that day. “I wanted to do something special for her,” he recalled.
“It was beautiful,” he said. “To be able to see my mom again back in the stands at the place I call home.”
The shortstop said he feels less pressure when his mom, who divorced his dad Miguel Lindor when he was young, is in the seats.
“Because it takes me back to my Little League days when she was in the stands and yelling and supporting me,” he said.
He was not sure Serrano, who suffered an aneurysm in 2020 which led to a stroke, would be able to travel to the Big Apple.
“We were so concerned. . . . I didn’t know if it was going to be possible for her to come,” he said.
“Mr. Smile” said every day, not just this Sunday, should be spent honoring moms.
“Every day is a reminder of how much I love her and how much I appreciate her,” he said.
Lindor also gushed about his wife, Katia, who is pregnant with their second daughter, due in June.
He is in awe of her commitment to raising their toddler, Kalina, 2.
“She’s an educator, someone that is very caring and puts a lot of time into what she does on a daily basis with my daughter,” he said. “She’s a hands-on-type mother.”
She also makes sure her husband is following suit, especially during mealtimes.
“When I feed her, she’s looking at me to make sure I don’t give her a piece of something too big,” he said.
Lindor also does his share of the dirty work at home.
“Besides playing, running around the house, throwing her on the couch, and throwing her up in the sky, my time to bond with Kalina is whenever I change her diaper,” he said.
“Whenever I can tickle her, keep her at ease, and make her feel comfortable. … The way I see it, she’s always going to remember that I’ll be there for her no matter what.”
The couple is mulling two names for their coming baby.
“I like Amapola, Katia likes Kala, but I don’t get to decide,” he said. That’s left for the person who “carries the child for nine months.”