{"id":547243,"date":"2026-01-31T06:29:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T06:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/547243\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T06:29:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T06:29:16","slug":"francisco-lindor-wont-participate-in-2026-wbc-after-elbow-procedure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/547243\/","title":{"rendered":"Francisco Lindor won’t participate in 2026 WBC after elbow procedure"},"content":{"rendered":"

One Mets star won\u2019t be participating in the World Baseball Classic after all. <\/p>\n

Francisco Lindor will not represent Team Puerto Rico this spring because of an elbow procedure he underwent<\/a> in October and \u201cinsurance constraints\u201d of the international tournament, according to a statement from the MLB Players Association.<\/p>\n

Lindor underwent debridement surgery to clean up his right elbow, and the Mets said in the fall that he would be ready for the start of spring training, a sentiment reiterated by the MLBPA.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrancisco is obviously disappointed that he will be unable to participate,\u201d the players\u2019 association statement read. \u201cHowever, because of WBC insurance constraints, he is ineligible to play in WBC games.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will participate fully in all spring training activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lindor was the captain of the Puerto Rican squad in 2023 and was picked last spring to reprise that role in 2026. <\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) hits a single in the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Queens, NY. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n

He paced the team\u2019s offense last time around with a .450 average, collecting a triple and five RBIs. Puerto Rico went 3-1 in the opening round but fell to Mexico in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear who will replace Lindor as captain.<\/p>\n

The debridement procedure marked Lindor\u2019s third offseason surgery with the Mets after he had a bone spur removed from his right elbow in 2023 and an appendectomy the year before.<\/p>\n

The Mets are expected to have some representation in the WBC, even with Lindor sitting this one out. Right-handed pitchers Clay Holmes and Nolan McLean have confirmed they will be on Team USA\u2019s staff. <\/p>\n

\"FranciscoFrancisco Lindor of Team Puerto Rico fields a hit against Team Mexico during the eighth inning in the World Baseball Classic Quarterfinals game at loanDepot park on March 17, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Outfielder Juan Soto, who played for the Dominican Republic last tournament, said in May that he hoped to represent his country again but did not confirm his commitment.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDelivering insights on all things Amazin\u2019s\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Mets by Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Newly acquired third baseman Bo Bichette, fresh off signing a three-year deal worth $126 million with the Amazin\u2019s, reportedly mulled an opportunity to play for Team Brazil but will not participate, according to ESPN Brasil.<\/p>\n

All 20 rosters will be announced on Thursday during a live show on MLB Network at 7 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One Mets star won\u2019t be participating in the World Baseball Classic after all. Francisco Lindor will not represent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":547244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,227,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203,2528,185,4820],"class_list":{"0":"post-547243","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-francisco-lindor","10":"tag-mets","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-mets","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkmets","16":"tag-puerto-rico","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-world-baseball-classic"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115988305045608167","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}