Francisco Lindor 'in the right direction' after Sunday in spring training debut for Mets
New York Mets player Francisco Lindor during a spring training workout, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026 in Port St. Lucie, FL. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The Mets expected to have Francisco Lindor back in the lineup by Opening Day.
He’s right on schedule for that, and his return to the big-league club perhaps came sooner than expected.
Lindor, who underwent surgery to repair a stress reaction in his left hamate bone on Feb. 11, played four innings Sunday afternoon against the Blue Jays — batting leadoff and playing shortstop — in his 2026 Grapefruit League debut.
He went 1-for-3 with a 104.5-mph single to rightfield in the third inning, his final at-bat. A pitch before his single, he crushed a foul ball toward rightfield that had home run distance, and manager Carlos Mendoza said its exit velocity was 108 mph. Lindor also struck out swinging in the first and reached on an error in the second.
Sunday marked 32 days since Lindor’s surgery, on the earlier side of the expected timeline of four to six weeks, and was 11 days before the Mets’ regular-season opener against Pittsburgh.
“I have checked every single box as of right now,” Lindor said of his Opening Day status. “I still got to stay the course and continue to check the boxes that the trainers have for me. I think everything is going in the right direction. I thank God for my health and the trainers, my trainer, and everybody that has contributed. It was two surgeries this offseason, and here I am today.”
Lindor also had a right elbow debridement procedure in October before his February surgery.
Mendoza said before the game that the team “didn’t put an exact date” on Lindor’s return, knowing it was going to be fluid. But he took away plenty of positives as he watched Lindor’s spring training debut.
“The aggressiveness, the way he attacked pitches,” Mendoza said. “He was just letting loose. It was good to see him impacting the baseball, because I know that’s probably a question for a lot of people . . . But it’s just how normal he looked today. No hesitation. Watching him going through his pregame work the last few days, watching it on the back field.
“Yeah, I think he looked like Francisco Lindor.”
Mendoza said Lindor, who took two at-bats in a minor-league game Saturday and live batting practice against A.J. Minter on Friday, is “day-by-day” and probably will be off Monday and play Tuesday before the team’s off day Wednesday.
In the top of the second, Lindor dived in an attempt to field a 105.2-mph grounder up the middle. It rocketed past him and into centerfield, and he noted it was a different feeling when he hit the ground.
“I haven’t dove in practice,” he said. “But I got up and was like, ‘OK, I feel good.’ So as long as the trainers have said to me that whenever, even if there’s a little pain, as long as it goes away, I’m in a good spot, and that’s what happened. It was good. It did not make me timid the rest of the game.”
Lindor said that with a bone removed and a lot of soft tissue and nerves in the area, there are “moments I really feel it.” He said trainers say the feeling should last eight weeks, players say a year or two and some retired players say they still feel it.
As a switch hitter, Lindor said “there’s a little bit of difference, but I feel good from both sides.”
Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez, who suffered a broken left hamate bone last March, went through a similar recovery last season. The club and Lindor learned about managing the pain from that experience.
“His grip strength, it’s 10 [times] of mine, so he’s a special human being,” Lindor said. “But yes, we have talked, and he has helped me and he has given me some pointers to make sure I get back sooner and what to expect.
“Pointers like that have helped me to understand that whenever I feel that, that somebody has gone through it and they end up on the other side and they’re OK. I appreciate his pointers because they have definitely benefited me.”
Baty improving at first
Brett Baty made his fourth spring training start at first base Sunday, and it was a smooth showing. He stretched to receive a long throw by Bo Bichette, scooped a throw by Marcus Semien and caught a liner and a pop-up.
“He continues to look very comfortable there,” Mendoza said. “I like how he’s using the whole bag. That play from Bo, I like how he went and got it. Didn’t stretch too soon, let the ball get to him and still was able to stretch out and get to a good position.
“I like how comfortable he’s getting by playing off the line against certain hitters, whether they’re lefties or they’re righties. He continues to look very good there.”
More roster cuts
The Mets trimmed their big-league camp roster to 53, assigning 11 players to minor-league camp: pitchers Carl Edwards Jr., Joe Jacques and Ryan Lambert (the Mets’ No. 18 prospect, according to MLB.com); catcher Kevin Parada; infielders Ryan Clifford (No. 5 prospect), Jackson Cluff, Grae Kessinger and Jacob Reimer (No. 6 prospect), and outfielders Ji Hwan Bae, A.J. Ewing (No. 4 prospect) and Jose Ramos.
The righthanded Lambert has pitched three scoreless innings, averaging 97.5 mph with his lively four-seam fastball. Ewing is 8-for-21 (.381).
“[Lambert] put himself in a very good position,” Mendoza said. “We know how electric [he is] stuff-wise, hits 100. Now we just got to get him throwing the ball consistently over the plate, and that was the messaging to him. We’re pretty confident that he’s going to help us at some point.”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
