Bo Bichette might not be a Met next year. He might be as important to them next season as anyone. Early this year, he looked like he would never again be the hitter the Mets signed for $42 million annually. Lately, he looks like a guy who can hit .300. Things can change quickly.
So assessing Bichette’s hectic Mets tenure remains complicated, if not premature. Maybe after the regular season, when the numbers are all in, it will be easier to process – just in time for Bichette to decide whether he will stay next year or go.
But for all the versions of Bichette that have appeared at Citi Field this year, the 28-year-old has passed what might be the most difficult task baseball can offer a decorated All-Star: After hitting terribly during his first month in New York playing on a massive free agent contract, being booed regularly as the Mets’ season fell apart before anyone could stop it, and getting labeled by some as a free agent bust… he emerged.
Bichette’s .298 average since June 1 is 13th best in baseball, sandwiched between Pete Alonso and Fernando Tatis Jr. His .794 OPS in that span is just four points lower than his career norm.
“I think just one day I kind of let it all go and started playing better,” Bichette said. “I don’t necessarily think I found me for a long time after that. But I was still able to come here and compete and put up numbers, which I was not able to do at the beginning.”
For much of the first two months of the season, as the team he was supposed to lift over the top plummeted out of contention, Bichette looked lost. His magic with runners in scoring position was gone. He was swinging early and often and sometimes too hard. Just when he was getting comfortable at third base, he moved to shortstop because Francisco Lindor got hurt. Only 17 qualified hitters had a lower OPS in April and May.
“You spend a good part of the season wondering why we’re not playing as well, wondering why I’m not playing as well, having a lot of different things in your head. On top of that, you’re feeling you want to show your new teammates how good you are and live up to the contract and all that,” Bichette said. “In the simplest way I can put it, I think in a lot of ways I just kind of let go.”
Not playing well, Bichette admitted, made it harder to find his place in the Mets clubhouse. He hardly felt like a rookie – his resume and reputation meant his voice would have clout in the clubhouse by default – but “people are more hesitant to speak up when they’re not doing as well.”
But he nevertheless had an immediate impact on the Mets’ youngest players, as first Carson Benge, then A.J. Ewing, soon became his shadows – so much so that the coaching staff noticed the rookies started dressing like the veteran.
“Bo is one of the guys who took me under his wing a little bit and made me feel unbelievably comfortable,” Ewing said. “He’s been a great resource for me, even now [as he is slumping]; he’s been helping me, talking me through things, trying to keep my head on straight.”
Little by little, Bichette started settling in – even before he started hitting. He was the one who started the Mets’ myriad Spider-Man celebrations after an early teamwide identity crisis involving a sledgehammer. He was one of the first veterans to speak publicly after Carlos Mendoza’s firing, when he and his teammates were to blame.
“I’ve never been someone that is super open right away,” Bichette said. “But it has definitely been different. In Toronto, for the most part, for six years it was kind of my clubhouse along with [Vladimir Guerrero Jr.]. And so coming here and figuring out where I belong and whose word is the last word and all of that kind of stuff – I was trying to figure it out. But as the season’s gone along, I feel like I fit in where I need to fit in.”
Some people who were around the Blue Jays during Bichette’s tenure were surprised to see him choose New York because he never seemed comfortable with the public-facing parts of being a key star in Toronto. Choosing New York, particularly with a massive contract, meant choosing more questions, more interviews, and more off-field responsibilities.
But Bichette seems to understand exactly what playing for the Mets requires of him on that front. From the worst moments of his slump to the last few weeks of questions about whether he will opt-out at season’s end, Bichette has been patient and polite. He is regularly at his locker before games even when he knows a reporter or two would probably ask for his time.
As for that opt-out, Bichette remains non-committal, though he has said multiple times that he is enjoying his time with the Mets and is comfortable here now.
“Obviously, we all want him to stay. At the end of the day, it’s his choice, his career,” Benge said. “Whatever he chooses, I’ll wish him the best. But we obviously want him to stay.”
The Mets front office would likely prefer Bichette stick around, too. Bichette is a more proven offensive weapon than anyone who will be available at third base in free agency next year. Should he depart, they will need to replace not only his production, but his presence.
Plus, Bichette has proven something Steve Cohen and others have said is harder to find than they thought these days. Despite his slow start – and maybe because of it – the Mets now have reason to believe he can handle the rigors of New York. The question now is how long he wants to stay.
