{"id":634750,"date":"2026-03-21T03:23:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T03:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/634750\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T03:23:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T03:23:18","slug":"bo-bichette-gets-uneventful-return-to-shortstop-as-mets-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/634750\/","title":{"rendered":"Bo Bichette gets uneventful return to shortstop as Mets plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 Bo Bichette returned to his old position Friday to reacquaint himself with <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/19\/sports\/bo-bichette-to-play-shortstop-in-mets-spring-game-in-case-of-emergency\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">playing shortstop<\/a> should the Mets need him there during the season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe didn\u2019t get tested, but it was good to get him back there,\u201d manager Carlos Mendoza said after the Mets lost 4-3 to the Cardinals in an exhibition game.<\/p>\n<p>Bichette, the team\u2019s starting third baseman, could be in position <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/19\/sports\/bo-bichette-prepping-as-mets-emergency-shortstop-is-a-clue\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">to serve as the backup shortstop to Francisco Lindor<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>In that scenario, the Mets wouldn\u2019t have to carry a sixth infielder, allowing for an extra outfielder on the 26-man roster.<\/p>\n<p>Bichette was a shortstop for the Blue Jays before arriving to the Mets in January on a three-year contract worth $126 million.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38849579\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-york-mets-third-baseman-122839874.jpg\" alt=\"New York Mets third baseman Bo Bichette (19) in a defensive stance during a game against the Washington Nationals.\" class=\"wp-image-38849579\"  \/>Bo Bichette is pictured during the Mets\u2019 Grapefruit League game March 5. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can go a lot of different ways here, and that is why Bo [got] that opportunity today at shortstop,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cI think after spending the whole spring training, all his work at third base, it\u2019s kind of getting him back familiar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Francisco Alvarez was feeling better, according to Mendoza, a day after he departed the game early with back tightness. <\/p>\n<p>Alvarez was on the bench Thursday; the plan was to give him a day off even before he incurred the back discomfort. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38849584\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/new-york-mets-bo-bichette-122420236_70eb34.jpg\" alt=\"New York Mets\u2019 Bo Bichette fields a ball at third base during Spring Training.\" class=\"wp-image-38849584\"  \/>Bo Bichette is pictured during spring training Feb. 28. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post<\/p>\n<p>He is expected back in Friday\u2019s lineup.<\/p>\n<p>Freddy Peralta pitched in a minor league game Friday because Mendoza didn\u2019t want to expose him to the Cardinals so close to the three-game series the teams will play beginning in 1 \u00bd weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Peralta will start Opening Day against the Pirates and then conceivably return to pitch six days later in St. Louis.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDelivering insights on all things Amazin\u2019s\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Mets by Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The Mets will carry six starters, but Mendoza indicated the team might only use five starters for the first turn through the rotation.<\/p>\n<p>Left-hander Bryan Hudson, who is competing for the final spot in the Mets bullpen, allowed three earned runs on one hit and two walks over one inning with one strikeout. <\/p>\n<p>Hudson has pitched to a 16.20 ERA in his four Grapefruit League appearances.<\/p>\n<p>Austin Warren, Kevin Herget and Robert Stock were reassigned to minor league camp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 Bo Bichette returned to his old position Friday to reacquaint himself with playing shortstop&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,88,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203,185,151],"class_list":{"0":"post-634750","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-bo-bichette","10":"tag-mets","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-mets","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkmets","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-spring-training"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116265026764979826","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}