An incoming Bo Bichette conversation we had about former NY Mets player Clay Holmes

Bo Bichette took a while before opening his bag of circus tricks with the New York Mets this year. Unable to fully climb out of the early hole he dug, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about what he has done for the club in 2026.

The Bichette conversation we’re having in September vs. April is much different. It’s also very much headed toward a similar one we had with another recent Mets player who, only a few weeks ago, was traded away.

Throughout the 2025 season, Clay Holmes was thought of as a candidate to move to the bullpen. The Mets moved him there briefly, but other than 2 appearances, he was a starter. Logging 165.2 innings and staying healthy for the full season, the journey to get through 2025 with Holmes had plenty of bumps along the way. In the end, with a 3.53 ERA and a satisfying innings total, the conversation shifted toward a far more favorable one. This feels like the place we’re headed to with Bichette.

Bo Bichette is the 2026 version of 2025 Clay Holmes

The circumstances in which each arrived to the Mets is already similar. Holmes was a successful relief pitcher who was signed to transition back to a starter’s role. Bichette was a not-so-successful defender at shortstop, but a top free agent hitter. The idea of transitioning him from shortstop to third base was met with a lot of the same criticism as there was about turning Holmes into a starter. Both should be considered a success.

It’s Bichette’s bat which has made him a lesser player than we expected. Although among the league leaders in hits, he won’t challenge for a batting title or come anywhere close to .300 barring some kind of ridiculous finale to the 2026 campaign. We’ll gladly take a .270 performance with some added home run power or something closer to the 40+ doubles he has been good for twice before in his career.

An OPS about 100 points lower than the .806 he had with the Toronto Blue Jays, there’s no spin to say this year met expectations. Although he is walking at a slightly higher rate, the power has been significantly down. We didn’t expect him to compete with Pete Alonso in home run totals. What he should have been able to do was at least guarantee 20 home runs and well over 30 doubles. His 162 game average for those are 23 home runs and a ridiculous 39 doubles. He’ll be lucky to get to 20 and 30 this season as he currently sits at 16 and 24.

When the season is over, there is more time to analyze a fuller view of how players performed. With Bichette, the numbers are going to give us a very 2025 Holmes feeling. Holmes managed to storm into the 2026 campaign with an even better performance before landing on the IL. It’s the ideal situation with Bichette, of course. If he is indeed back next year, we can only hope that positive sampling in the last few months is what we can look forward to.

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