‘I can be better’: Bichette opens up about struggles with Mets

It’s no secret that Bo Bichette has had a tough time acclimating to Queens.

The former Toronto Blue Jays shortstop signed a three-year, $126-million contract to join the New York Mets in the off-season, and has been mired in one of the worst slumps of his career since.

Bichette’s .531 OPS is fifth-worst among qualified hitters. His .210 batting average isn’t much better and he doesn’t have an extra-base hit since April 28.

The 28-year-old infielder spoke candidly about his early-season struggles to The Athletic‘s Ken Rosenthal.

“There are a lot of things I didn’t anticipate,” Bichette said to Rosenthal. “Just dealing with everything. New teammates. New organization. Staff. New fan base. Just everything, I think.”

Even though he made a significant blunder while playing in the field on Sunday – dropping a potential inning-ending pop up in the sixth, resulting in a run for the New York Yankees – Bichette previously had made a surprisingly smooth transition to third base.

That play is one of only two errors he’s made on the season, and he grades out well by most advanced defensive metrics, including his plus-2 fielding run value on Statcast. He has recently moved back to shortstop due to Francisco Lindor’s injury.

Still his struggles at the plate have overshadowed his play in the field, understandable considering he’s a bat-first player.

“I don’t know if it’s been the toughest stretch of my career,” Bichette said. “But it’s up there.”

Prior to sustaining a knee sprain that held him out for the final 20 games of the regular season and the start of the Blue Jays’ World Series run in 2025, Bichette was among the best pure hitters in baseball.

He led MLB in both hits and doubles, and finished second in both categories despite the time missed.

However, he has been prone to slumps throughout his career. In the 2024 season, Bichette struggled to a .225 average and .598 OPS with only four home runs over the first half of the season before missing the second half due to injury.

“Being on a new team, I just want to help the team, first off,” Bichette said. “But I think naturally I want to impress people and show people what I can do. Not being able to do that is tough.

“Just wanting to be the player that the Mets signed is something that I think about a lot,” Bichette added.

Yet, based on expected stats, Bichette has been unlucky. His .269 slugging percentage is well below his .399 expected slugging based on quality of contact, and his .243 batting average on balls in play is well below league average.

“Early on, I was able to keep it in pretty good perspective, that it’s just how the game goes,” he said. “At the end of the day, the luck is the luck. I definitely haven’t put my ‘A’ at-bats every single day, every single pitch. I can be better.”