The New York Mets got Bo Bichette to hit, but he's off to a 1-for-14 start that inculdes more strikeouts than usual.
Every New York Mets star hears the boos sooner or later, and for new third baseman Bo Bichette, “sooner” has become the operative for his New York timeline. Bichette is off to a slow start offensively, and the boo birds slowly made themselves heard over the weekend against the Pittsburgh Pirates, until finally they became hard to ignore.
Bichette was expecting this, and he actually agrees with the sentiments they were expressing, according to a story written by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
“If anything, I thought it took too long,” he said when asked if he was expecting the New York negativity this quickly. “But I get it,” he added. “I thought my at-bats were terrible, too.”
Bichette is being hard on himself. He’s had some long at-bats that contributed to the Mets winning the first two games of the series, and he drove in a run with an important sacrifice fly that got the Mets on board on Opening Day.
His big problem is the strikeouts, which are happening far more that we’re used to seeing from Bichette. He’s fanning multiple times per game, which has resulted in a 53.3 strikeout rate. The sample size here is small with just 15 plate appearances so far, but Bichette is striking out more than 3.5 times than he did last season in Toronto.
Bichette is definitely feeling the pressure. He wanted to introduce himself to Mets fans with a “moment,” according to DiComo, and that’s one good way to end up in a 1-for-14 slump.
“I didn’t anticipate it, but I definitely felt that wanting to have a moment not only for my teammates, but for the fans,” Bichette said. “That’s just something I have to manage. … I guess I didn’t anticipate it affecting the way I play.”
Bichette is also learning a new position he’s never played before, which can’t be helping. His defense has been shaky at times, with multiple errant throws that have pulled Mets’ first basemen up the line, including one on Saturday that resulted in his first throwing error.
It’s easy to say it’s just three games and a single series, but Bichette isn’t buying that excuse. He told DiComo he’ll hit the batting cage before the Mets start their three-game series in St. Louis tonight to try and figure his issues out, and he’ll have plenty of support from other Mets stars who have struggled when they first came to New York.
“He’s one of the best hitters in the game,” said shortstop Francisco Lindor when he was asked about Bichette’s slow start after the game. “He’s going to have a lot of big moments for us. This is only normal, and we’re all on board with him. We know what kind of hitter he is. He’s going to execute. He’s going to come through more than he fails, so I can’t wait for him to get going.”