Mets infielder Grae Kessinger is dealing with what manager Carlos Mendoza described as “a pretty significant injury” to his hamstring, as relayed by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Feinsand adds that Mendoza indicated surgery is “on the table” for Kessinger and that his recovery timeline will be at least eight to twelve weeks.
The news is a tough blow for Kessinger, who previously missed nearly all of the 2025 season due to injury. He made his big league debut with the Astros back in 2023 but was designated for assignment by the club shortly after the 2024 campaign. He was plucked off waivers by the Diamondbacks but appeared in just 11 games at Triple-A for the club due to his injury before eventually being released. He did not sign with a new club as he rehabbed that undisclosed injury, but he caught on with the Mets on a minor league deal back in January.
Kessinger was firmly in the mix to be the Mets’ utility infielder off the bench headed into the 2026 campaign. Unfortunately, that won’t be in the cards for him due to this latest injury. The 28-year-old has just 48 games at the big league level under his belt to this point in his career, all of which came as a member of the Astros. It’s difficult to draw conclusions regarding his overall ability from his lifetime .131/.243/.213 slash line at the major league level given that he’s gotten all of 70 plate appearances in the majors spread across two seasons, but a lifetime .268/.370/.400 slash line at Triple-A would certainly indicate that he has a chance to be a passable utility player in the majors.
More details on the specifics of Kessinger’s timeline figure to become available once it’s known whether or not he’ll need to go under the knife or if he can rehab the injury. If he does avoid surgery, the timeline Mendoza mentioned indicates that he could be back in play as a depth option around Memorial Day. In the meantime, other players in the organization will get a shot at backing up the team’s incumbent infielders. With Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien, Bo Bichette, and Brett Baty all set to start regularly between the four infield spots and DH, the utility infield job on the Mets’ bench could wind up coming with a fairly small amount of playing time available.
Still, a big league gig is coveted for any young player or minor league veteran, and the players who figure to battle for the position this spring now that Kessinger is out of commission include other non-roster invitees like Vidal Brujan, Jackson Cluff, and Christian Arroyo. Youngster Ronny Mauricio arguably has a leg up on all of those names given the fact that he’s already on the 40-man roster, but it should be considered that the aforementioned lack of playing time available in the role might make the Mets prefer to play Mauricio regularly at Triple-A. In that case, one of the aforementioned bench pieces seems likely to land the job, with Brujan perhaps being the favorite given his versatility and experience in the outfield.