It’s not particularly shocking that Bo Bichette is still getting adjusted at third base after spending the first seven seasons of his career playing shortstop. And for what it’s worth, Bichette actually hasn’t graded out poorly at third base, with zero defensive runs saved and one out above average in the early going.
What is concerning is that Bichette—twice the American League leader in hits—is batting just .217 with a .538 OPS in his first season with the New York Mets.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Pat Ragazzo, “scouts who have watched Bichette don’t think he looks fully healthy when running the bases and believe he’s still nursing the PCL sprain in his left knee from late last season.”
It’s definitely problematic if Bichette’s left knee—which caused him to miss much of September and all of the AL playoffs last year before returning for the World Series—isn’t healed after a whole offseason. It makes you wonder how the 28-year-old is going to age, and perhaps makes a team like the Philadelphia Phillies happy in hindsight that Bichette didn’t accept their seven-year offer in the winter.
But the Mets gave up second and fifth-round picks, along with $1 million in international bonus pool money, to sign Bichette to a three-year, $126 million deal with player opt outs after each season. If Bichette doesn’t heat up, then he probably won’t opt out. But the Mets signed him thinking he would play well enough to opt out, with the thought being that even if he only spent a year in Flushing, he could help them to compete for a World Series.
So far, the Mets have gotten the hits machine that played for the Toronto Blue Jays for seven seasons. Lingering concerns about his health give you reason for pause when trying to evaluate whether Bichette can overcome this slow start.
This, of course, is one of just many issues facing the Mets, who entered the season with World Series aspirations but now have lost 11 consecutive games. Carlos Mendoza’s seat has to be scalding hot, even if it’s uncommon for managers to get fired this early in the season.