The New York Mets welcomed star shortstop Francisco Lindor back to the lineup, and the results included his first hit.
When the report surfaced early in spring training that shortstop Francisco Lindor had broken the hamate bone in his left wrist, the news felt ominous. After all, Lindor had offseason surgery on his right elbow, and there were reports that the New York Mets didn’t even know about this.
Which made it all the more reassuring when Lindor returned to the lineup and looked like his usual self. GM David Stearns hinted last week that Lindor’s first spring appearance would occur late in spring training to clear him for Opening Day, but instead Lindor played four innings in the Mets’ rain-shortened 8-1 win yesterday against the Toronto Blue Jays, and he picked up his first hit of the spring while making multiple plays in the field.
Anthony DiComo of MLB.com did an update on the shortstop’s status that included some intriguing details. One occurred during a diving attempt to stop what became a Jesus Sanchez single, while there were two other swings in which Lindor hit the ball hard and said he felt something in his left wrist.
As alarming as that sounds, it’s actually somewhat normal. It turns out the surgeon actually removed the hamate bone, which isn’t unusual in certain versions of this injury, and doctors told Lindor he could feel something different post-recovery for approximately eight weeks.
“There’s going to be moments, yeah, for sure,” Lindor said. “That’s something that the trainers have said since Day 1, that I’m going to feel something. There was a bone removed, and there’s a lot of nerves there and soft tissue stuff. So yeah, there’s going to be moments I’m going to feel it.”
Lindor has talked to other players about this, and some have said the feeling could persist beyond his recovery window. In a couple of instances, the feeling has persisted for a year or two, and it could even last for the rest of his career.
The Mets will obviously continue to be careful with their star shortstop, but so far Lindor hasn’t experienced the loss of hand and wrist strength that can accompany this particular injury.
“We just let him loose,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “No hesitation. Watching him going through his pregame work the last few days, watching him on the back fields, yeah, I think he looked like Francisco Lindor.”
Short-term, Lindor will continue to play every other day, health permitting, but one of the Mets’ rehab goals is to have him play in back-to-back games for nine innings each. Lindor concluded that he felt “pretty much like myself,” and Mendoza was satisfied with what he saw. There are still going to be uncertain moments going forward, but for the moment the Mets are happy with the positive news.
“They said that rehab is not a linear thing,” Lindor said. “There’s going to be ups and downs, and that’s where I’m at. Today was a good day. Hopefully, I can come back tomorrow and feel even better, and we’ll go from there.”