Mets shake up lineup vs. Cubs with interesting Carson Benge, Francisco Lindor changes

The New York Mets might be in as large a rut as any team in Major League Baseball this season. They're 7-12 and coming off a brutal series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It's still early in the season, but the Mets desperately need to change things up and start winning games. To try to bounce back from their losing skid, the Mets are making some changes.

As the Mets lineup announcement revealed, Carlos Mendoza is shaking up the lineup in a big way, with Carson Benge and Francisco Lindor two of the biggest changes.

Mets make changes to lineup with Carson Benge, Francisco Lindor

The new-look Mets lineup for the opening game of the series against the Chicago Cubs is as follows:

1. Carson Benge, RF
2. Bo Bichette, 3B
3. Francisco Lindor, SS
4. Luis Robert Jr., CF
5. Francisco Alvaraz, C
6. MJ Melendez, DH
7. Marcus Semien, 2B
8. Brett Baty, 1B
9. Tyrone Taylor, LF

This is a big change from the lineup the Mets sent out on Wednesday's loss to the Dodgers. Lindor has moved from leadoff to the third spot, while Benge is all the way up from the sixth spot to leadoff.

Bichette hitting second and Robert hitting fourth is an interesting dynamic as well, as it gives the Mets a more left-right switch at the top of the lineup.

More: Mets didn’t want to trade Brett Baty while White Sox didn’t want Mark Vientos in Luis Robert Jr. trade

Putting Benge, who's hitting .151 this season with one homer and three RBIs, in the leadoff spot is a very interesting move.

But, with the struggles of the offense lately, this shake-up could be what helps spark some better production from the offense.

This new-look lineup that has some interesting maneuvers will face Edward Cabrera, the Cubs ace righty, who has a 1.62 ERA this season.

It's a tough test right after these big changes, but hopefully the fresh lineup will help the Mets hitters reset and bounce back after a rough start to the year.

More MLB news:

• Braves predicted to trade Bryce Elder for Lars Nootbaar
• Jacob DeGrom is only 149 strikeouts from 2,000 for his career
• Three ways Pirates' Paul Skenes could lose NL Cy Young Award
• Red Sox never close on Astros’ Isaac Paredes trade
• Shohei Ohtani deemed more valuable than Aaron Judge in recent ESPN discussion piece