PORT ST. LUCIE — Less than a week after the Mets’ season ended in October with a loss to the Padres in the NL wild-card series, Francisco Lindor experienced lower abdominal discomfort.
“I could barely move,” Lindor told The Post on Friday.
It was a familiar discomfort that had bothered Lindor occasionally, but the shortstop’s wife, Katia, had heard and seen enough: Lindor was going to the emergency room.
And that’s how Lindor learned he needed to have his appendix removed.
Lindor underwent an appendectomy (the procedure was laparoscopic, with just three small incisions) and was released from the hospital about 12 hours later. He was sent home for a short recovery. The timing of the procedure coincided with when the Mets would have potentially been playing in the NLDS had they advanced past the Padres.
But in Lindor’s mind, he would have played regardless.
“I probably would have held it,” Lindor said. “I probably would have kept it on the down-low and just continued to play.”
Lindor said he had been playing through pain “that would come and go” since August 2021, when he was placed on the injured list with an oblique strain.
“We checked [the appendix] and there was nothing, apparently,” Lindor said. “I just figured that it was something that was going to come on and off, and never say anything.”
Lindor had a nickname for the occasional discomfort.
“I called it the ‘fart bubble,’ ” he said.
Now he’s glad he doesn’t have to continue dealing with it.
“It worked out,” Lindor said. “It happened at the right time. I can’t complain.”
There’s a strong chance Francisco Alvarez will open the season at Triple-A Syracuse, but manager Buck Showalter wants the rookie catcher to approach spring training with the idea he’s contending for a spot on the major league roster.
“I think he is going to approach it that way,” Showalter said. “You always want players to make you think about ‘What if?’ We look at every possible scenario, whether it’s an injury … there’s ways everybody in camp could make the club if something happened.”
Omar Narvaez and Tomas Nido are ahead of Alvarez on the depth chart at catcher. Alvarez will receive opportunities behind the plate in the Grapefruit League (Narvaez’s participation in the WBC will create additional opportunities) and at DH, according to Showalter.
The Mets’ team-bonding activities this spring will include a talent show initiated by Showalter. But the manager is facing a logistical challenge trying to get the group together. Players departing for the WBC present one obstacle, roster cuts later in camp will preclude other players, and then there’s a mystery component to the equation.
“There’s a super important cog that can only be here on a certain day,” Showalter said. “So I don’t know how I am going to do it yet.”
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