Surrounding reports that Bo Bichette is expected to opt in and stay with the Mets for 2027, the third baseman has gotten it going lately at the plate.
After a miserable start, this whole season has been an uphill climb for Bichette. He dealt with struggles matched only by his abbreviated 2024 season with Toronto.
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After a hot June that got his numbers into more respectable territory, his production leveled off again. He didn’t hit a home run in July, posting a .628 OPS for the month.
Bichette homered on Friday against the White Sox — his third in 18 games this month. And finally, after months of hovering in the .600s, he has an OPS above .700.
Cause for celebration? Maybe not. He’s still on track to have the worst full-season OPS of his career. But in August, Bichette has been more like the Bichette of old. The Mets have stuck with him, for better or for worse. Despite a disappointing season for him and the team, he’s been quietly steady as of late.
Bichette is hitting .329 with a .947 OPS in 18 August games. He needs two more homers and two more doubles to match his highest mark for each of those categories in a month this season. His OPS officially reached .700 with a 1-for-3 game on Aug. 17. His solo homer on Friday — the 13th of his season — rose his OPS to the highest it’s been yet at .706.
In 2025, Bichette hit 18 home runs in 139 games. He would need a hot streak to break that pace, but he has a chance to pass that number. This is after he had no home runs through 14 games, and just two through May 17.
Bichette’s latest homer went 345 feet, traveling off the bat at 97.6 mph. It was actually softer contact than a 103.9-mph groundout he hit later in the game. His average exit velocity for the season, though, is down at a career-worst 89.5.
But at least the power is showing itself more recently. He’s also improved his numbers against fastballs, up to a .254 average after sitting in the low .200s earlier in the year. However, that’s still a far cry from last year’s .307 mark.
Bichette’s production should be a focal point as the final month-plus of the season commences here. The Mets, ideally, would like to have some reason for optimism surrounding his 2027 outlook, since it’s looking like he’ll still be on the team. He entered Friday with a 96 wRC+, which should go up another tick with his latest performance. He’s so close to getting that mark to be above league average. His career mark, for reference, is 118.
Bichette has 1.7 fWAR — a number that should finish above 2.0 assuming he doesn’t plummet from here. It would still be a disappointing season overall, but at least he’s started to look more comfortable in this portion of the season.
