Francisco Lindor to be Evaluated for Hamate Bone Injury
Francisco Lindor‘s Opening Day status is in jeopardy before spring training officially starts.
Francisco Lindor (12) Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images
With pitchers and catchers officially reporting for the 2026 season on Wednesday, Francisco Lindor with be with the medical team being evaluated for a stress fracture in his left hamate bone. If surgery is recommended, he will miss about six weeks. Opening Day is six weeks and two days away. Francisco Alvarez fractured his hamate bone last spring, and it took him almost six weeks to the day to return to play.
Lindor, the linchpin of the infield, is an everyday starter, with any missed time coming as a surprise. Since joining the Mets in 2021, Lindor has missed just 52 of 810 possible games. Most of those games came in 2021, only missing 15 games the last four seasons. Last season, the 32-year-old slashed 267/.346/.466/.811 with a 6.3 fWAR. He also earned his first All-Star nod with the Mets.
If Lindor misses any time, new acquisitions Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien are fully capable of playing shortstop (albeit at a lesser level defensively). Should either play short, that clears room for Brett Baty to get regular at-bats. Stearns said during his press conference that Ronny Mauricio, Vidal Bruján, Jackson Cluff, Christian Arroyo, and Grae Kessinger are all options if Lindor misses time.
Lindor most recently wanted to play for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic in March, but an elbow cleanup surgery in the offseason made it so Lindor was difficult to be insured. He’ll now spend most of the spring rehabbing his hand injury.
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