Bo Bichette didn’t need the scoreboard to tell him how his first weekend with the Mets was going. The reaction from the stands handled that just fine. When he came up in the seventh inning on Sunday, two runners in scoring position and a chance to flip the game, the moment carried weight. Instead, it ended the same way much of his opening series had, another strikeout, another missed opportunity, and this time, a chorus of boos raining down from Citi Field. Bichette didn’t push back on it afterward. If anything, he leaned into the reality of it, noting that he was more surprised the crowd had held off that long.
A Mets Debut That Unraveled Quickly
That response tracks with the situation. Bichette arrived on a three-year, $126 million deal, expected to anchor a lineup and bring consistency to a team with playoff expectations. Through three games, he looked nothing like that player. One hit in fourteen at-bats, eight strikeouts, and at times an uncomfortable presence at the plate. Add in the adjustment to a new position at third base, and the early returns have been rough in every visible way.
There’s a difference between a slow start and what Bichette showed in Pittsburgh. This leaned toward the latter: timing off, swings late, and at-bats that rarely felt competitive deep into the count. In a city that tracks every detail and reacts quickly, that combination was always going to draw attention.
The Weight of Expectations in New York
New York doesn’t offer much room for quiet adjustments. High-priced signings are expected to produce immediately, and anything short of that tends to get amplified. Bichette understood that when he signed, and the boos, however early, are part of that environment.
Still, the timing makes the reaction feel outsized. The calendar hasn’t turned to April, the Mets have already won two of three, and there are 159 games left to play. Around the league, other established hitters are opening just as slowly, if not worse, without drawing the same level of noise. That doesn’t excuse Bichette’s performance, but it places it within a broader early-season pattern rather than isolating it as something uniquely alarming.
A Long Season Ahead
Context only goes so far if the results don’t change, but Bichette’s track record suggests they will. He has hit .290 or better in six of seven seasons, building a reputation for sustained production even with occasional cold stretches. Those dips can look sharp in the moment, especially when compressed into a single series, but they rarely define his season.
Bichette’s start has been poor. That part is clear. What follows will matter far more than what just happened, and with nearly an entire season ahead, the opportunity to reset arrives quickly.
