Alex Rubinson - Bichette's Defense is not a Reason to Panic

                                 

Heading into the offseason, the New York Mets were tasked with shoring up its pitching staff in an effort to surrender fewer runs. As analytics has continued to take over baseball, it has come to the forefront that pitching isn’t the only way to keep opposing offenses off of the scoreboard. Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns made it clear when he came over to Queens that his organization was going to focus on team defense and overall run prevention. 

Run prevention was a goal during Stearns’ time with the Milwaukee Brewers, and he was clearly going to emphasize it heading into the 2026 season. Run prevention was cited as one of the key reasons the franchise decided to let fan favorite Pete Alonso walk to Baltimore to suit up for the Orioles. It’s why the team willingly traded away another homegrown talent in Brandon Nimmo for an aging Marcus Semien. The team was willing to sacrifice offense in order to play a cleaner defensive brand of baseball. 

In the later portion of the offseason, the Mets made a blockbuster signing that didn’t necessarily line up with the overall offseason agenda. After missing out on Kyle Tucker to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Mets quickly pivoted and inked Bo Bichette to a three-year deal worth $42 million annually. Bichette has never been known for his defense and now was going to be asked to play a position he had never played, third base, also known as the hot corner. 

The bold move was rightfully questioned and was even thrusted into the spotlight after one of Bichette’s throws from third in the early goings of spring training was off line to Jose Rojas at first base. People are going to continue to question the decision to sign Bichette and play him at a position he has never played before. The Mets aren’t going to get the benefit of the doubt, but the move to the hot corner for the former Toronto Blue Jay might not be as strange as it appears on paper. 

When the Blue Jays made the fall classic last year, Bichette was forced to move off of shortstop due to a knee injury he suffered towards the end of the regular season. Although shortstop was the position Bichette had only known, the move was destined to occur sooner or later. Last season, Bichette ranked dead last in outs above average with -13. He was tied with J.P. Crawford of the Seattle Mariners for 37th place. As a reminder, there are only 30 MLB organizations. Since 2019, when Bichette made his debut, he was 38th out of the 41 qualifiers with a -33 outs above average at the position.

One of the most significant reasons a move off of the position was a formality was due to Bichette’s range. Unlike any other position in the infield, shortstop requires one to possess the best range skills, moving both to the left and right. With recent guidelines that have prevented teams from shifting, Bichette’s range deficiencies could no longer be masked around the diamond. 

At third base, Bichette’s range will not be tested nearly to the same extent. His first step quickness will be an area he will be forced to hone in on, but his lateral skills won’t be a major area of concern. Moving over to third, his arm will be tested more than it was a shortstop. Don’t get me wrong, one needs a strong arm to play shortstop, but arm strength will be tested at a much more consistent rate when playing at third. Bichette’s arm strength may have only been 36th at the position in 2025, but that does compare favorably to other players. 

Bichette averaged 82.3 MPH on his throws from last season. That ranked just below the Texas Rangers’ Josh Smith, who played over 30 games at third base last season (and also multiple contests in the outfield). Bichette’s arm tested better than the man who will be playing to his left for the upcoming year. 

Lindor’s average was over a full mile-per-hour lower than Bichette. Maybe it’s due to his size, but Corey Seager is seen across the league as someone with a bazooka for an arm, yet he only averaged only just over 80 MPH on his throws. Bichette being 36th in arm strength at shortstop actually stations him as league average for the position. When transitioning over to third base, Bichette’s arm would tie Alex Bregman among third baseman and be well ahead of Cincinnati Reds’ Ke’Bryan Hayes, who is well-known for his defense, along with last year’s Mets third baseman, Brett Baty. 

Fast forward to this past Tuesday, Bichette showed his instincts by making a nice bar-handed grab before firing an on-target throw to first base for the out. Sometimes we need a reminder that it’s February. Across the Grapefruit and Cactus league, there is going to be some ugly baseball and ugly plays. This goes for everyone, even among players who are stationed at the same spot they’ve been playing for over a decade. I am not trying to make an argument that Bichette will turn into a gold glover at third base. 

Don’t expect any Brooks Robinson comparisons, but the hot corner fits Bichette’s skillset better than even shortstop does at this point in his career. There are going to be growing pains, but Bichette should be able to settle in and offer league average play at the position. Even if it dips slightly below the league average, the value that Bichette’s bat will provide to the lineup should do more than just offset his third base play. 

When the move was made, it definitely seemed to deviate from what Stearns and company had been preaching all offseason, but the Mets are an improved defensive ballclub, and Bichette’s presence should not take away from any of that.