New York Mets All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor will have surgery Wednesday for a stress reaction in his left hamate bone, manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said Tuesday that Lindor had been feeling soreness in his left hand and wrist area over the previous couple of days and would be seeing a specialist on Wednesday.
Stearns said Tuesday that if surgery was warranted, the recovery time was estimated at six weeks and that it was not expected to delay Lindor’s availability for the regular season. The Mets open the season at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates on March 26.
“If we get to the point where we get closer to Opening Day and there are questions about Francisco, then we’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Stearns said. “But, at this point, we’re optimistic that regardless of what Francisco needs, he’s going to be ready for Opening Day.”
Lindor, 32, has experienced soreness in the same area at times for a couple of years, Stearns said.
“He’s usually able to grind through it, and he’s done it,” Stearns said. “I don’t know when he first felt it, but I think it just persisted to the point where he felt like he should say something about it. Once we examined it a little bit more yesterday, our medical staff determined that he should see a specialist.”
Lindor has not been on the injured list since 2021 and has played in at least 152 games in the four seasons since, missing several games late in 2024 but staying off the injured list.
While Lindor is out, the Mets will have Christian Arroyo, Vidal Brujan, Jackson Cluff and Ronny Mauricio as options to play at shortstop. Bo Bichette signed a three-year deal with the Mets this offseason with the intention of switching from shortstop to third base, but he also could see time as Lindor’s replacement in spring training.
Lindor was selected to the All-Star Game for the fifth time in his career last season and first as a Met in 2025. He batted .267 with 31 home runs, 86 RBIs, a .346 on-base percentage, a .466 slugging percentage, a National League-leading 644 at-bats and major league-topping 732 plate appearances in 160 games.
He has a career batting average of .273 with 279 homers and 856 RBIs in 1,535 regular-season games with Cleveland (2015-20) and New York (2021-present). He was an All-Star in 2016-19 with Cleveland.
Lindor also is batting .263 with eight homers and 21 RBIs in 41 playoff games.
