New York Mets star Francisco Lindor is officially undergoing surgery for his injury, which will put his Opening Day status in doubt as he recovers.
According to manager Carlos Mendoza, Lindor suffered a stress reaction in the hamate bone of his left hand, and he will have surgery on Feb. 11th.
“Yeah. I just got done talking to the trainers, and the injury was confirmed. So he is going to have surgery today,” Mendoza said, according to SNY.
The timeline for Lindor’s recovery is up in the air, per Mendoza, with a six-week prognosis from medical professionals, but given the shortstop’s work ethic, he is not betting against a quicker recovery and playing through some pain.
Lindor’s approach and experience battling injuries are giving Mendoza hope for Opening Day to still be a possible return date for the star.
“It varies. People are saying six weeks for return of play. Knowing Lindor, I’m not gonna bet against him. This is a guy that has played through broken toes, and the low back two years ago, when he could barely walk, and he continued to play through it,” Mendoza added in his media availability.
“So we’re still optimistic that he’s going to be available for us in Opening Day, but we’ve just got to wait and see.”
According to Mendoza, Lindor tends to pick up injuries throughout the year and play through them, making the 2026 season no different.
“I think the only time he feels 100 percent is Day 1 of spring training since I have been here,” Mendoza said.
“So he’s mentioned it the past couple of years, but it came and went. But we found out a couple of days ago and for him to say something like that was concerning to the point we took the step that we did.”
Last season, Lindor hit .267/.346/.466 with 31 homers and 31 stolen bases, all while playing quality defense from shortstop. His leadership on the field as a defender and power will be missed for the new-look Mets, but the team has enough depth to start strong.
How will Francisco Lindor come back from injury?
The Mets are hopeful he will be at full strength when he returns.
“We’re optimistic that Lindor is going to be the same player [as always],” Mendoza said. “There’s been cases where power has been a topic, but there’s also been cases where guys have that type of surgery and it doesn’t affect them at all.”