How concerning is Bo Bichette's first two months with the New York Mets?
Yahoo Sports senior MLB analyst Jordan Shusterman is joined by Toronto Blue Jays writer Ben Nicholson-Smith to break down what they’ve seen from New York Mets’ Bo Bichette so far this season and question if he can turn things around. Hear the full conversation on the “Baseball Bar-B-Cast” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
Bo Bichette, Ben, has not really been very good at baseball this season.
He is currently still playing sh- I guess he's playing shortstop because Francisco Lindor is out, so that was not really part of the plan.
But more importantly, he's playing, he actually looked okay at third, at least he was grading out okay at third.
The bigger issue is that Bo Bichette, has a 67 OPS+, which, for someone, making a whole lot of money A- actually, you know what?
For someone making league minimum, that is not good enough.
So I- we always say, "Well, wow, look what he's getting."
Yes, that is a very relevant part.
Let's move the contract to the side for now and talk about the fact that he has not been good.
I don't know how much, Bo, you've watched this season, but just kind of big picture thoughts about the, the move to begin with, and then how this has gone so far.
Look, we've seen so much of Bo Bichette in the course of his young but extensive Major League career to know that he's a really good hitter.
And even in the midst of these struggles, where y- he has had such a bad two months, you look at the xBA on Baseball Savant, it's 279, which is quite good.
So at minimum, he's not striking out a ton, he's putting the bat on the ball.
These are all Bo Bichette things.
He continues to do that.
And so yeah, it's been awful, clearly well below what he's capable of, well below what we would expect.
Now, flip it forward.
What do we expect from Bo Bichette now?
I, I have a hard time anticipating that he's gonna be anything other than an above average hitter, s- especially with the, the batting average, but even with the power.
I know he only has five home runs so far this season, but he's, he's such a good hitter that to me, his floor moving forward is, like, one of those late career Justin Turner seasons, where it's like- high batting average, 800 OPS, hit you a few home runs.
You know, he's not necessarily a burner on the bases, but he can play you some defense.
Like, that to me is the floor, and the ceiling obviously is impact hitter.
Hits, you know, 15 home runs between now and the end of the season.
OPS more like 840, 850.
That's all in Bo Bichette's bag.
So we'll see if he can, if he can get there.
But, yeah, I, I've seen s- way too much of Bo Bichette not to believe that he is going to be a very good hitter.
