2026 Mets Positional Outlook: Middle Infield

The Mets’ starters on the infield up the middle seemed set in stone just a few days ago, but news of Francisco Lindor‘s hamate injury has complicated matters for the team. There is optimism that Lindor will be able to make the Mets’ Opening Day lineup, but his timeline pushes him right up against the first game of the season. The Mets’ depth at second base and shortstop has never been more important in the Lindor era.

Major League Starters

Francisco Lindor (SS)

Age: 32
Contract: 10 years, $341 million
Roster Status: 40-man roster

Francisco Lindor will enter year six of his now 11-year commitment to the Mets this year, and has been the undoubted face of the franchise since his arrival. He leads the National League in position player fWAR since his arrival in Queens and has multiple memorable moments to his name. His 2026 season will begin in a way that no other season of his Mets career has: injured. Lindor underwent surgery on his hamate bone before Valentine’s Day, which gives him an outside shot at being fully prepared for Opening Day. He hasn’t missed much time with the Mets, totaling 758 games played since his arrival, which is good for sixth in the NL.

His Mets career has been nothing short of impressive. Overall, he has posted an .800 OPS with 141 homers and 117 stolen bases as a Met, with the latter two marks being good for top-10 in the National League. His 2024 campaign produced a runner-up to the NL MVP, and his 2025 season was good for a fourth-consecutive top-10 NL MVP finish.

The Mets’ shortstop posted an .811 OPS with 31 homers, 86 RBI, and 31 stolen bases, but it was the first season that his glove was statistically closer to average than elite. Lindor posted a negative DRS for the first time since the 2022 season at -1, but this time he did not have a strong OAA to back him up: his mark for 2025 was just 5. The picture painted by a negative DRS and OAA of 5 is that of an aging middle infielder at the game’s premium defensive position, but a bounce-back 2026 campaign would calm most of the fears around his glove as he gets closer to his mid-30s.

As for 2026 specifically, there is no reason to expect anything short of another top-10 MVP finish from Lindor, which he’s had each of the last three seasons.

Marcus Semien (2B)

Age: 35

Contract: 7 years, $175 million (three years, $78 million left)

Roster Status: 40-man roster

The Mets acquired Semien from the Texas Rangers in what was an exchange of not-so-great contracts, with Brandon Nimmo heading the other way, and he appears to be a major piece of the Mets’ plans for 2026. Both on and off the field, Semien brings a lot to the table for the Mets. Semien made consecutive All-Star Game appearances in 2023 and 2024, but his struggles at the tail-end of the 2024 season carried into 2025, leading to a .669 OPS overall. If nothing else, he is a workhorse: in the same time that Lindor has been a Met (since 2021), Semien played the third most games in the American League.

Semien’s calling card is is glove, which has been arguably the best in baseball this decade. His OAA of 53 falls just behind the mark of 57 by Andres Gimenez for the best in the American League over the past five seasons, and his DRS of +54 was the third best in the same time. The Mets spoke all winter about the importance of solidifying their defense and run prevention, and Semien fits perfectly into that philosophy.

As for his bat, the back half of his 2025 season gives plenty of reasons for hope. From May 30 through August 21, Semien posted a .801 OPS with 12 homers over the course of 71 games. His season ended due to a fracture of the third metatarsal in his left foot that was accompanied by a sprain of the Lisfranc ligament in the same foot. The silver lining to a season-ending injury is that the now-35-year-old is fully healthy and has an extra four-to-six weeks of rest.

Semien is a solid fit into what appears to be a philosophical overhaul of the way the Mets have played baseball in recent years. His leadership skills are well known across the league, and figure to be a significant piece to a cultural change within the Mets’ clubhouse. Not very often does a Major League team completely revamp its identity in one winter while maintaining its hopes of being a legitimate playoff contender in the following year, and Semien is a major piece to whether the Mets will be able to accomplish that goal or not.

Major League Depth

Brett Baty (1B, 2B, 3B, OF)

Age: 25

Contract: Pre-Arbitration Eligible

Roster Status: 40-man roster

In short order, Brett Baty has become the Mets’ utility infielder heading into the 2026 season. He started the majority of the games at third base for the Mets down the home stretch, and his reps were well earned. Baty held a .772 after being called back up from the minor leagues on May 7, earning himself a lion’s share of the reps over the final few months of the season. However, he seemingly did not do enough with his at-bats to warrant winning the full-time gig.

Baty will still play an important role for the 2026 Mets, and figures to start more games than he sits. His positional versatility should give him plenty of chances to get into the lineup, with David Stearns going as far as to speculate that he could see 500 at-bats this season. If he hits as well as he did down the stretch, Carlos Mendoza might be forced to find ways to get his bat in the lineup.

At least heading into camp, however, Baty figures to be the first bat off the bench. His overall body of work produced a .748 OPS with 18 homers on the year, which might have been enough to start on several other teams in the league. With Bo Bichette slated to start at third and Semien at second, his best chance at legitimate playing time might be at first base if Jorge Polanco ends up being more of a DH than a first baseman. Baty’s ability to play three spots would end up being a huge plus for him in that scenario, and is a major advantage for the Mets as a whole.

Ronny Mauricio (3B, SS)

Age: 24

Contract: Pre-Arbitration Eligible

Roster Status: 40-man roster

Ronny Mauricio has basically never gotten a full chance to be a Major League starter, but the chances he has gotten haven’t produced the most success in the world. He saw a legitimate run at third base last summer, but failed to capitalize on it and forced the Mets to look elsewhere on their roster for a third baseman. Mauricio’s splits were absurdly drastic, with a .783 OPS against righties and a .215 OPS against lefties.

The Mets have seemingly given up on him as a shortstop, but his arm makes him an interesting option for them at the position when needed.

The odds of him cracking the Opening Day roster are fairly slim, and it should be expected that he is in the Triple-A Syracuse lineup in April. Mauricio still has much to work on in his game, holds a minor league option, and the rust from missing all of 2024 due to a major knee injury was apparent. He’s only 24 still, so he should be able to take his time this year and regain much of his prior form. The Mets might want to play the long game with Mauricio, which likely sees him spending the majority of the 2026 season with Syracuse.

Vidal Bruján

(UTIL)

Age: 28
Contract: 1 year, $850k split contract
Roster Status: 40-man roster

The Mets brought in Bruján as part of a flurry of moves they made late in January, but he might have slid under the radar a bit. With the recent injury to Lindor, he becomes one of the only natural shortstops who are healthy, and that list gets even shorter if the Mets are inclined to keep Bichette at third base to ensure his smooth transition to the position.

In just 87 at-bats last year, Bruján posted a .616 OPS with no homers and two stolen bases, but his positional versatility came into play often. Since 2024, Bruján has played every position but pitcher and catcher, with the majority of his time coming in the outfield and up the middle on the infield. The Mets are emphasizing run prevention, which heavily involves defense, and Bruján’s ability to play several spots well is an important piece to their depth plan.

His bat leaves much to be desired, but a solid glove at several spots is incredibly valuable on a team that carries the likes of Mark Vientos, a player with significant defensive liabilities. Bruján will likely see legitimate run with the Mets on their bench at some point this year when you account for injuries, and he fits right into their mold of preventing runs.

High Minors Depth

Wyatt Young (2B, SS)

Age: 26
Contract: Pre-Arbitration Eligible
Roster Status: Not on the 40-man roster

Young has been in the Mets’ system for some time now after being drafted in the 15th round of the 2021 draft, but has not done much to cement himself as a legitimate prospect. He spent all of the 2025 season with Double-A Binghamton, posting a .656 OPS over 333 at-bats. His glove is significantly better than his bat, but at 26, he would be significantly older than the average player at the Double-A level. He figures to start this season in Syracuse, which highlights a potential lack of upper minor league depth for the Mets on the middle infield. 

Spring Training Non-Roster Invites

Grae Kessinger (1B, 3B, SS)

Age: 28
Contract: Pre-Arbitration Eligible
Roster Status: Not on the 40-man roster

Kessinger has had two cups of coffee with the Astros, but has not made it back to the major leagues since 2024. He only saw 11 games of action in the Diamondbacks system last year before being released in late April. He posted a .771 OPS in the Pacific Coast League over 34 at-bats. Most notably, he is the third member of his family to reach the Major Leagues, with his grandfather Don recording over 7000 at-bats. His chances of making the Mets are a long shot, but he should get some run in Syracuse.

Jackson Cluff (2B, 3B, SS)

Age: 29
Contract: Pre-Arbitration Eligible
Roster Status: Not on the 40-man roster

Cluff has yet to make the Major Leagues, but he put together a solid season for the Washington Nationals’ Triple-A squad last year in Rochester. He put up a .771 OPS with 12 homers and 25 stolen bases, but became a minor league free agent at the end of the season. His path to the Majors is not exactly clear for this year, but he figures to have the best chance of any minor league Mets middle infielder after the likes of Bruján and Mauricio. He could end up in a somewhat similar situation to that of Donnie Walton last year, who ended up making the Majors with the Phillies in the back-end of the summer.

Coming Soon

A.J. Ewing (2B, OF)

Age: 21
Contract: Pre-Arbitration Eligible
Roster Status: Not on the 40-man roster

Ewing is predominantly a center fielder, but has his second-most professional games at second base. He has been ranked as high as a Top 30 prospect in baseball heading into the season by ESPN, and is coming off a season in which he stole 70 bases. His quickest path to the Majors is in center, but his versatility at second base also makes him an option there. His glove is significantly better in center, however. He is one of the most polarizing prospects in baseball, heading into the year. 

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