New York Mets star Francisco Lindor said he’s “optimistic” he’ll be ready for opening day after undergoing surgery for a wrist injury in February. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
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Francisco Lindor is well aware that he’s done it all with the exception of one major thing – winning a World Series.
The five-time All-Star shortstop is entering his 12th season in the MLB and is one of the top stars in baseball. The 32-year-old burst onto the scene as a star early on for the Cleveland Guardians, going to four straight All-Star games as a member of the franchise while establishing himself as one of the top shortstops in the MLB.
Lindor has played in a World Series – Cleveland lost to the Chicago Cubs in seven games in 2016 – and has been to the playoffs on six occasions in his career. As he goes through the second half of his career, he’s looking to lead the Mets to their first World Series since 1986.
New York advanced to the NLCS in 2024, but narrowly missed the playoffs during the 2025 season despite having the largest payroll in the MLB.
“This is a new year, it’s a fresh start,” said Lindor in a one-on-one interview of why fans should have confidence the Mets can make it back to the playoffs. “We gotta play up to our potential. We gotta stay healthy and play up to our potential and play for each other and just enjoy the ride. There’s a lot of ups and downs throughout the season, and if we enjoy the ride, we’ll be in a good spot.”
Lindor said it would be great to win his first MVP – he’s been in the running a few times – but said that he plays to “win a championship.” After multiple playoff runs in his career, the veteran shortstop assessed what is the biggest thing he’s learned from all of that experience.
“Every year is different, and no matter how big the opponent is, you gotta play the game the right way,” said Lindor. “I’ve been on the side where we are the big opponents, and I’ve lost. I’ve been on side where we’ve been small opponents, I won. At the end of the day, you just gotta play the game the right way, and just don’t take anything for granted.”
He acknowledged that the key to winning in the playoffs is executing in key sequences. It’s worth noting that Lindor’s Cleveland squad narrowly lost 8-7 in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series.
“Once you’re in the postseason, it’s hard to see a team getting overmatched if both teams play the game the right way and execute in small plays, small situations, big situations, and just play team baseball,” said Lindor. “Basically, if you play clean baseball, it’s hard to see a team getting overmatched.”
Lindor is currently dealing with a wrist injury, undergoing surgery less than a month ago to repair a stress reaction in his left hammate bone.
“I’m good, I’m in a good spot,” said Lindor of his recovery from the injury. “I like where I’m at right now. We still got three and a half weeks, and I’m making progress. I like the progress I’m making, and things are coming along. I’m happy.”
The regular season begins on March 26 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Lindor said he’s “optimistic” that he’ll be ready for opening day.
“I’m very optimistic, and I and I think it can definitely happen for sure,” said Lindor.
When asked if this type of injury will affect his power early on, Lindor said he “hopes not.”
“I hope not, my home runs barely go into the stands as is,” said Lindor while laughing. “So yeah, I hope not. It’ll be fine. As athletes, we deal with stuff all the time and just get used to it and find a way.”
Francisco Lindor On Release of New V3 Shoes, Why New Balance Is ‘Family’
While Lindor rehabs and recovers in preparation for the 2026 MLB season, he’s keeping busy with the release of his new shoes, the Lindor v3’s. The star shortstop is releasing the shoes through New Balance, whom he’s been partnered with since 2017.
He calls the design of these shoes among his favorite since he began his partnership with New Balance nearly a decade prior. Lindor was seen wearing the shoes – which is inspired by the Flower of Life – at the Australian Open back in January.
“New shoes, it’s got a lot to do with my family,” said Lindor. “It has a lot to do with New Balance, family and what I’m all about. At the end of the day, I’m a family person. I love my family, and that’s kind of how the partnership with New Balance started as well. They’re all about family and growing. My shoes pretty much, it’s a little bit of that, it has the end lock, which is that old school vintage vibe from where New Balance started.
“Then it has a little bit of the details, which is a Flower of Life, which is about my family, the energy that my family brings on a daily basis to my life,” Lindor continued to say. “The first colorway, it’s more in my style, a lot of colors. And then the Puerto Rican colorway, which is representing the roots and the family.”
Lindor detailed why he’s been partnered with New Balance over other shoe and apparel companies, saying that it’s a real collaboration and that they value his creative input on designs.
“It’s been good, it was before a lot of people found it cool,” said Lindor. “Now I’m part of the journey that they have gone and seen how much they’ve grown and how much people love them, and to see a waiting list and people going crazy over new drops and stuff, it’s what I saw, what I thought was going to happen. It’s cool to see it before everybody jumped in.”
The veteran shortstop continued mentioning the word “family” when it comes to his relationship with New Balance.
“From day one, it has been about family,” said Lindor. “One of the coolest things about donating and helping others, that was one of the first things that got drawn up to me, it just hit home. I remember the family ownership the first time I was up in Boston, and I just found it was super cool how they were doing it. Not just that, but the way they allow my creativity with the baseball group, they shoot these designs, and the creative designers that they have, we sit down every time we’re gonna create a new shoe, we go over my ideas, my crazy ideas that go in my head, and it’s just like, boom. I tell them, and then they draw it up. They create, they make it into reality.
“It’s almost like what’s happening in my head,” Lindor continued to say of the designs. “They make into reality. I’m not an engineer at that. I don’t know how to put things together, and my mind is just constantly thinking about new ideas and new things. They have allowed me to give them my input, and they actually get it done.”
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