Don’t Look Now, But Bo Bichette’s Bat Is Waking Up
After a disappointing start to the season, Bo Bichette is beginning to look like the hitter the Mets were expecting.
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The New York Mets have arguably been the most disappointing team in baseball this season.
A team carrying the highest payroll in baseball enters June 10 at 29-37, eight games under .500 and 15.5 games back in the National League East.
If you tried explaining to a Mets fan before the season that the team would be in this position come the middle of June, they probably wouldn’t have believed you. Well, okay, maybe some would have. Years of disappointment tend to do that to a fanbase.
But there are plenty of reasons why the Mets have gotten to this point. New York has been riddled with injuries. Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, and Luis Robert have all missed significant time and remain sidelined.
However, one player stands out above the rest in trying to find a reason for the Mets’ struggles: Bo Bichette.
The Mets signed Bichette to a surprising three-year, $126 million contract during the offseason. The deal carries an average annual value of $42 million.
The reasoning behind the deal was obvious.
Since debuting in 2019, Bichette has been one of baseball’s best hitters. He has led the American League in hits twice and built a reputation as one of the game’s most dangerous hitters with runners on base.
Last season with the Toronto Blue Jays, Bichette hit .311 overall and .381 with runners in scoring position, the best mark in baseball.
That brings us to today. Bichette is batting .230/.281/.325 with a .606 OPS. He’s also hitting just .222 with runners in scoring position.
His .606 OPS ranks 149th among 161 qualified hitters in the major leagues.
For a player known as one of the best contact hitters of his generation, such a dramatic decline during his prime years feels difficult to explain.
That’s exactly why it never felt sustainable. Over the last few weeks, Bichette has started to find his rhythm again. Let’s break it down.
Stats were taken prior to play on June 10.
Bo Bichette’s Bat Is Heating Up at the Right Time
In Bichette’s last 20 games, he hasn’t caught fire just yet. But the embers are starting to glow. Little by little, the heat is beginning to build.
During that stretch, he’s hitting .278/.326/.456 with a .782 OPS, three home runs, and 14 RBI. After hitting below .210 in May, Bichette is batting .321 through the early part of June.
It’s no coincidence that as Bichette has started to find his groove, the Mets have won seven of their last 11 games.
The offense simply feels different when he’s producing, and the numbers support that feeling.
The Mets are 3-4 in their last seven games. In the three victories, Bichette went 8-for-13 with two runs scored and four RBI. In the four losses, he went just 1-for-15.
For a lineup missing several star players, Bichette has become the catalyst from the No. 2 spot.
As for his approach, not much has changed from last season. He’s never been a patient hitter who works deep counts and draws walks. Instead, Bichette has a unique ability to barrel pitches throughout the strike zone and spray hits to all fields.
Last season, Bichette averaged 3.66 pitches per plate appearance. This season, that number sits at 3.65.
The biggest difference may simply be adjustment. Bichette is learning a new organization, a new city, and the pressure that comes with a massive contract. It’s a point Bichette acknowledged himself.
During the Mets’ opening series, he unmistakably looked uncomfortable at the plate. He chased pitches off the plate and often appeared to be pressing.
Unlike many players who hide their genuine emotions, Bichette openly discussed that feeling.
“I definitely felt that, wanting to have a moment,” he said. “Not only for my teammates, but for the fans and everything. So, that’s something I have to manage.”
As Yogi Berra famously said, “Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.” The mental side of the game often goes overlooked.
That pressure shows up in the numbers. Bichette’s chase rate sits at 39.5% this season, up 4.3 percentage points from last year.
For the first time in his career, Bichette is adjusting to a new organization. He wants to justify his contract, to prove the Mets weren’t wrong to believe in him. He wants to help a struggling team win. And at times, he has looked like a player trying to do too much.
Still, baseball is a marathon, not a sprint.
Bichette has slowly settled into New York and the culture the Mets are trying to build.
We still haven’t seen the best version of Bo Bichette. But the flashes are becoming more frequent. And when that version finally arrives, opposing pitchers will have a major problem on their hands.
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Written by
Thomas Kelson is an intern at Just Baseball and a graduating senior at Rutgers University, where he studied Journalism and Media Studies with a specialization in…