Bo Bichette has never had a stretch of his career like this before.

The New York Mets‘ new $126 million signing has just one hit through his first 15 plate appearances, but that’s not the worst part.

Bichette has struck out eight times in those 15 trips to the plate. That’s a 53.3% strikeout rate.

And never before has he had eight strikeouts in a 15-plate appearance span, or in a three-game span.

He once struck out eight times across four games involving 17 plate appearances. This is worse.

Clearly, it looks even uglier because it’s the beginning of the season, so it doesn’t just hide its way into season-long stats. 

Still, it’s not the way to make a first impression.

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The Mets are paying Bichette $42 million per year to hit in the heart of the order. Right now, he’s not even hitting the baseball.

It almost certainly is a fluke, but it’s something worth monitoring. Bichette has never had a strikeout rate above 23.6% in any season in his MLB career. 

Even in a strikeout-happy era of baseball, Bichette’s pure hitting style has mostly held up. He strikes out less than most prominent hitters.

That is, until this regular season started and Bichette forgot how to make contact.

With a hitter of Bichette’s pedigree, he may heat up quickly and make everyone forget about this rough start.

But if Bichette keeps swinging and missing, that’s concerning, because it’s not how he normally operates.

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