Odds were stacked against Bo Bichette ever being able to be worth his contract. Still, it seemed a half-decent bet that he would turn in a roughly 3.5 fWAR season, which is a very good player. Unfortunately, Bichette got off to an absolutely terrible start, one which had him with a .531 OPS after 46 games.
Yet in 342 PA since then, Bichette has turned in the type of performance which we hoped for as Mets fans. He’s slashing .303/.345/.462 - which translates to a 124 wRC+. Sure, we’d prefer that his numbers would include an ISO better than .159 - so that his numbers wouldn’t have to depend on a .348 BABIP. Still, since he started with a .243 BABIP this year, he was due for the hits to start falling in.
Plus, we’ve started to see better slugging numbers from Bichette here recently. Since July 30, a span of 77 PA, he has a .197 ISO - thanks to 6 2B, 1 3B and 2 HR.
While it frustrates me that Bichette seems to make up his mind whether or not to swing at the first two pitches of an at-bat before the pitcher releases the ball, it’s hard to argue with the overall results.
Recently, Name asked me in the Game Chatter what my view was on Bichette potentially opting out at the end of the season. Initially, my expectation was that he was going to leave after 2026. But that awful start has changed things. It seems much more like a coin flip now. He’s not going to get the AAV but he could lock up many more years. It all depends on what Bichette values most.
For the record, whatever Bichette decides to do is fine with me. If he comes back to the Mets, it seems much more likely that he’ll avoid the early struggles and hit like he has over these last 342 PA over an entire season. In other words, be that 3.5 fWAR player, one who’s overpaid but still very productive.
And if he opts out, the Mets will have no problem spending that $42 million elsewhere.
Around the Minors notes:
AAA:
Billy Amick and Émilien Pitre are both in AAA now. This triples the relevant players in the lineup for Syracuse. Ronny Mauricio is the hands down star of the AAA lineup and I think the Mets might want to consider him as the cost-effective solution to DH.
AA:
Sadly, the Rumble ponies lost a second game in the month of August. They are 14 and 2 in the month. They had such a bad record before August this turn around is insane. This month they have 130 runs scored and 59 runs against. Gary Gill Hill has been solid in AA for the Mets so far as well.
A+:
For a team without much success from the mound, Daviel Hurtado and Emilio Obispo remain two bright points.
Nice to see Bo performing to par.
Since it’s open comment Wednesday, does anyone else now regret trading Pete Crow Armstrong for 2 months of Javier Baez and 120 innings from Trevor Williams?