Bo Bichette's Slow Start Is Frustrating, Though It's Hardly Abnormal

After a rough start at the plate to start the season, Bo Bichette is starting to turn the corner and put his struggles behind him. The $126 million man was part of a big offseason for the New York Mets, with the stakes high as they look to return to the postseason after a disaster of a second-half last year.

Bichette has started all ten games so far, batting third and manning the hot corner. He started his first six games only recording three hits across 27 at-bats against the Pirates and Cardinals, good for a .111 batting average. That stretch came with eight strikeouts and only one walk.

In the Mets last series in San Francisco, Bichette’s bat finally came to life. He collected six hits, two being doubles, while driving in three runs. He almost took Robbie Ray deep Thursday night, but Harrison Bader robbed him of a 104 mph home run.

The hits aren’t always showing up in the scorebook, but he’s still making pretty good contact and has been unlucky. He’s been squaring up the baseball and hitting a lot of line drives, portending a much brighter future after a slow start to his tenure in the Big Apple.

Slow Starts Aren’t Unusual for Bo Bichette

Bichette has made a habit off getting off to slow offensive starts. His career batting average and OPS are the lowest between March and April. During these two months, Bichette has posted a career slash line of .257/.297/.390 across 607 plate appearances. This performance doesn't last long for him; his offensive numbers tend to jump in production once the calendar flips to May, as he owns a career .291/.338/.488 slash line in that month.

He has a reputation of starting slow, but has shown to finish seasons strongly. Looking at his career trends, in the second half of the season from July to the end of the year is when Bichette’s bat comes to life. His monthly OPS is above .800 only in May in the first four months of the season, but has sat above .800 his whole career between July and October.

The same trend continues for his batting average. It sits below .300 from March through June, but sits above .300 the whole second half. It's not unusual for star players to heat up as the weather warms, but it is rare that the splits are so drastic. The Mets would surely like him to get going a little quicker in 2026, but some players need (lots of) time to get back their timing. The only difference now is that he's a $42 million star on a new team, rather than a young player making pre-arb or arbitration money.

Are Other Factors Contributing to Bichette's Start?

When you sign a big contract with a new team, there is some stress and pressure that forces you to press and try to play hero ball. Also keep in mind that Bichette had to change positions, shifting from shortstop to third base due to Francisco Lindor having shortstop locked-up. For someone who has historically been chastised for his poor glove-work, it's not shocking to see that his bat is lagging.

That being said, if you want reason to be concerned, Bichette's bat control offers an area to highlight. He's always been a free swinger with a bad habit of chasing outside the zone, but his timing is way off right now. His barrel rate is less than half of his career mark, and he's whiffing on nearly one-fourth of his swings (24.7%). As a result, all of his contact quality metrics have dropped off from last year; there's no reason to think a veteran player with a career .293 batting average can't right the ship, but there is a source of the misery beyond just cold weather.

Even though Bichette isn’t off to a great start, this is not abnormal within the scope of his career (and he’s already starting to come out of his slump). He’s only ten games into the season and the whole league offensively is behind pitchers production wise. Around 75 qualified hitters currently have an OPS of .600 or lower.

The Mets bet a lot (both literally and figuratively) on Bichette being a middle-of-the-order run producer this season. It might take longer for him to get there than fans want, but history suggests it's only a matter of time before he turns things around.