Pitchers and catchers reporting to MLB Spring Training is always a fraught time of year, as physicals reveal all manner of offseason injuries that hadn't previously been made public. In 2026, though, we have a new menace on the loose: the hamate bone.
The New York Mets had already announced that Francisco Lindor's Opening Day availability was in doubt due to a hamate bone fracture on Tuesday. And then, on Wednesday morning, both Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll and Baltimore Orioles infielder Jackson Holliday suffered similar fates. Lindor's was a stress fracture that may or may not need surgery to fix, while Carroll and Holliday had breaks that will require going under the knife.
Those are three very big, very important names, all from a bone that most people probably couldn't even identify. So: Just what the heck is a hamate bone? And why is it causing MLB stars to drop like flies? Here's everything you need to know, as well as how concerned these teams should be moving forward.
What is a hamate bone?
Not since the days of "Home Alone" has something so small caused so much chaos. The hamate is a small bone in the palm of the hand, underneath the fourth and fifth metacarpals (your ring and pinky fingers). Its unique hook shape allows it to serve as an anchor and means of protection for the tendons and nerves running through the hand.
Unfortunately, that same shape also makes it particularly prone to breaking, especially for those who put continuous stress on their hands — like, for example, a Major League Baseball player repeatedly swinging a bat at full strength.
Why do MLB players break their hamate bones so often?
Hamate bone injuries are nothing new in baseball, and usually happen in one of two ways. Sometimes it happens due to direct contact with a pitch. More often, though, it's simply a matter of stress: Stars like Giancarlo Stanton, Jose Ramirez, Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson in recent years took what seemed to be normal, innocuous swings ... only to immediately double over in pain, as the force generated by the movement was too much for the hamate to bear.
It seems like the latter is what happened in Carroll's case, as the D-backs star was simply taking live batting practice when he suffered the injury. It's a small, fragile bone, and its hook is particularly vulnerable because it's relatively unsupported. If you get hit by a pitch in the wrong spot, or even if you put an unusual amount of stress on your hand by, say, checking your swing at game speed or fouling a ball off, you might wind up with a break or fracture.
What is the typical recovery time for a hamate bone injury?
This is a bit of a good news, bad news situation. The good news is that this isn't a soft-tissue injury. If it's a stress fracture, it might well heal on its own in a matter of weeks — the Mets haven't even ruled Lindor out as a possibility for Opening Day yet. And even if surgery is required, as was the case for Holliday and Carroll, it's a pretty clean procedure, and recovery time is typically around four to six weeks. It's simply a matter of letting the bone heal.
The bad news is that, because the wrist is such an important part of your swing, it might take much longer for a player to start looking and feeling like themselves again. Power, in particular, can be impacted, as players often report not being able to do real damage to the baseball for a while after their return to the lineup. It's worth noting that plenty of players (like Olson, for example) recovered from their injury and went on to have excellent years at the plate. But this is definitely a concern that could linger.