Mets infielder Bo Bichette had zero extra-base hits in May entering this week. He popped a home run and a double on Monday against the Nationals, then followed it up with a two-homer game on Tuesday. Bichette came into the series against Washington with just two long balls this season. He’s more than doubled that mark in two games, while also pushing his OPS above .600 for the first time since May 1.
The move to Queens hasn’t gone as planned for Bichette after the Mets inked him to a hefty three-year, $126MM deal. The veteran had the ninth-lowest wRC+ among qualified hitters before Monday’s big night. He’s slashed .224/.277/.332 through 48 games. Those numbers looked eerily similar to Bichette’s 2024 campaign (.225/.277/.322), a year ruined by multiple injuries. The 28-year-old got back on track in 2025, a well-timed rebound ahead of his first crack at free agency. He’s slipped back into concerning habits this year.
Bichette’s approach has never been geared toward power. He makes hard contact, but sprays the ball to all fields and prioritizes line drives over fly balls. Even when Bichette was regularly reaching 20 home runs, he was doing it with a ground ball rate near 50% and a pulled air rate in the low teens. It’s an elite batting average profile, and league-leading hit collection is the main reason Bichette has been worth at least 3.5 wins (per Baseball Reference) in four of the previous five seasons.
The batted ball distribution this season is concerning, even for Bichette. His groundball rate is up to a career-high 51.2%. He’s pulling the ball in the air just 6.9% of the time, nearly half of his career norm (12%). Bichette is hitting line drives on just 23.1% of batted balls, which is below league average. Even in his difficult 2024 season, he hit line drives at a more than 30% clip.
Bichette has also taken a step back in terms of contact quality. He’s posted a 43.8% hard-hit rate, a 5% decline from 2025. He’s barreling the ball at a 5.6% rate, more than 3% below his career average. The only year Bichette has had a barrel rate below league average was 2024, when he stumbled to a 4.5% mark. Bichette still ranks in the 64th percentile for hard-hit rate. He’s in the 80th percentile for xBA at .280. For his profile to work, though, he’ll likely need to be closer to the league leaders in those categories. Bichette was in the 98th percentile with a .298 xBA in 2025. He finished second in the AL batting title race, behind only Aaron Judge.
The expectations of a significant contract, plus joining a new team, can weigh on a player. There’s also the New York factor. But if Bichette is pressing, the plate discipline doesn’t show it. He’s striking out just 16.3% of the time. His chase rate (38.1%) is up a bit from last season, but it’s more or less in line with his career mark of 36.8%. Bichette’s 7.3% swinging-strike rate is a career low. He’s making contact on pitches outside of the zone more than ever, which could explain some of the decline in contact quality. He might be better off swinging and missing a bit more often.
The most surprising aspect of Bichette’s stat line is the defense. The Mets signed him to play third base after he graded out as one of the worst shortstops in the league during his final year in Toronto. Injuries to Francisco Lindor and Ronny Mauricio forced Bichette back to shortstop, and he’s played fine there. He’s been neutral in terms of both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average at the position. Bichette’s recorded -1 DRS and +1 OAA at third base. Unremarkable numbers with the glove are a huge improvement for Bichette, and likely part of the reason he’s performed at replacement level (-0.1 bRef WAR) despite the poor offensive contributions.
Like most hitters, Bichette has had tough months at the plate, even during strong seasons. He had a .687 OPS in June last year. His groundball rate jumped over 52% during that stretch. Bichette then turned around and hit .357 with 12 doubles and 18 RBI in July. There’s plenty of time for him to get back on track at the plate. And getting passable defense at multiple spots is a big win for the Mets, even if it’s not worth $42MM a year.
Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images
