Francisco Lindor Plays Minor League Game

Francisco Lindor, who underwent hamate surgery on February 11, 2026, took a big step forward towards his return, playing in a minor league game at spring training today. He did not hit in the game, but he did play four innings in the field. He made one error. Lindor discussed the error and how he has to get used to fielding balls with less strength in his glove hand. He was optimistic about the progress he was making telling Anthony Dicomo of MLB.com, “At the end of the day, I can catch the ball. So I’m in a good spot. I can’t complain.”

While Lindor did not fully commit to being ready for opening day, he said he was “100 percent optimistic” that he will be. At his press conference on March 9, 2026, president of baseball operations David Stearns said that Lindor was tracking towards being ready for opening day, but with an important caveat that Lindor will need to play in spring training games for that to happen – his first game action would not be in the majors.

The Mets final spring training game is Sunday, March 22, against the Miami Marlins. This leaves the Mets with ten possible games for Lindor to play in before the end of spring, when accounting for split squad days. They have an off day tomorrow before a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, March 12.

Lindor hopes to swing the bat in minor league games soon. After that he will be able to play in major spring training games. Corbin Carroll, who had his hamate surgery around the same time as Lindor is making his spring training debut tomorrow. Jackson Holliday, who also underwent hamate surgery just began swinging the bat in the cage with both hands.

Hamate surgery tends to impact a player’s power output immediately after their return to play, but as a switch hitter when he is facing right handed pitchers, the hand he had the surgery on will be on top. It is possible that his power may not be heavily impacted from the left side, but we will have a better idea when he starts swinging the bat. Deepak Chona, MD, a Stanford and Harvard-trained orthopedic sports surgeon previously sat down with Danny Abriano of SNY and discussed this saying, “The area near the hamate sees greater force on a left hand when batting right-handed, so it’s possible – if not likely – that Lindor being a switch hitter may help him bounce back faster than other batters.”

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