Bo Bichette’s 2025 campaign was one of many ups and downs, drama and promise. Now entering next season as a 28-year-old in his prime, the now New York Met was seeking $300 million from his bidders. However, was that kind of money really warranted?
Bichette’s polarizing 2025 season left fans a little concerned by the end. After all, he led the entire Major League in hits for most of the season until going down with his knee injury late in the season. Even when he was out, he still held the lead in hits for two weeks amongst players like Bobby Witt Jr. and Aaron Judge. Bichette was a monster in the batter’s box last year, even if it took him a whole month to hit his first home run of the season. He ended the year hitting .311, with 18 home runs and 181 hits in reduced at-bats from his knee problems. There were games when his bat single-handedly carried the Jays to victory, and in one instance, turned their entire season around with a home run. If it weren’t for George Springer’s ridiculous comeback season, Bichette would have been the team’s regular-season MVP.
With that being said, the elephant in the room is his significant time spent off the field. Bichette played 139 games — missing a chunk of the final stretch of the regular season — and returned late in the playoffs as a shell of himself. His injury history is concerning, as in 2024, he only played 81 games and recorded the worst season of his career. It was his most recent injury that turned the most heads after a seemingly minor knee problem turned out to be one that sidelined him for an extended period. As reports kept coming out, his return period kept extending, and fans began to question how serious his injury really was.
Bichette’s time as a shortstop might be coming to an end. Over the years, he’s been constantly ranked amongst the worst defensive shortstops in baseball, and last year wasn’t any different. After it was announced he signed for three years, $126 million, it became evident nobody was offering him anything near $300 million.
As a fundamental base runner, Bichette isn’t bad at all; however, he ranks amongst the lowest in the league in sprint speed. After shocking videos surfaced showing the shortstop rounding the bases around the time of the ALCS, the narrative surrounding his poor sprint speed got much worse.
In the World Series, Bichette’s bat was still as hot as ever; however, his lack of base-running prowess cost the Blue Jays scoring opportunities on multiple occasions.
Bichette will be 28 when the 2026 season kicks off, and he’s had more than enough time to recover from a non-break or tear injury, yet the question marks of his ability are still up in the air.
Recent reports suggest that Bichette will more than likely play third base, which is interesting considering his struggles at shortstop and the increased throwing distance to first base.