This Will Define EVERYTHING For The Mets...

This will define everything for the New York Mets. When David Stearns and the Mets signed Beau Bichette from the Toronto Blue Jays in the past offseason, there were sky high expectations that he would reclaim the postseason heroics and ultimately be a fan favorite in New York. Unfortunately, the opposite has panned out. What's going on guys, I'm Josh Byrne, you're tuned into Mets Digest. Please make sure you are subscribed if you are not already, because 66% of you are not subscribed and we're getting close to 8,000 subscribers. Guys, Beau Bichette was signed in the offseason to a massive three-year $126 million deal. Not massive by length of years, but massive by he was signed over $40 million per year, and that's a big deal because it makes him the third highest player in all of baseball. Let that sink in. He's the third highest player in all of baseball. At this point, this image right here, unfortunately, has become somewhat cursed. David Stearns shaking hands with Beau Bichette there as the Mets had thought that they had made a huge splash over the winter. Let's take a look at that contract right here, because there's a bit of nuances here. Obviously, this year, he's locked into it $42 million, but he does have an option, a player option that is, at the end of the season. What that means is he has the ability to decide, does he want to continue to be a New York Met for the following two seasons for a $84 million price tag, or does he want to go elsewhere and try to seek a longer term, more valuable contract? Now, coming off of his 2025 campaign, this wasn't seen as a ridiculous contract because Beau Bichette actually put up really good numbers in 2025. A 311 batting average is almost unheard of in today's game, unless you're the likes of Luis Arias. Not only did Beau Bichette produce that, and he produced that several times when he was on the Blue Jays, he also provided quite a bit of pop. As you can see, he hit 18 home runs, he hit over 40 doubles, and that's why he produced an OPS that was above 800. And if the Mets can get anywhere close to this kind of production, it will absolutely change everything for this lineup. The question is, is that guy still in there somewhere? Is it possible that the Mets can actually get any semblance of the star player that Blue Jays fans happily cheered on for years and years? Well, we'll get into all that first, guys. Let's get into our sponsor, PrizePix. It is what this video is brought to you by today. PrizePix is America's number one sports pick app and the best way to get in on the action. We'll dive into a great pick later in the video and an awesome promotion. And make sure to download the app using the link in the description and using code Digest to sign up today. New users get $50 instantly in their lineups when playing your first $5. Now, looking at what Bo Bichette has done this year, guys, not too good because 572 OPS is quite literally one of the worst on-base plus slugging cumulative statistics in Major League Baseball. So, keep in mind, Bo Bichette is getting paid the third highest average annual value this season of any player in Major League Baseball. And according to the Qualified OPS Leaderboard or Loserboard, he has the sixth lowest OPS going into last night's game in all of Major League Baseball. And to say that's disappointing would not be doing that any justice. That would be underselling it. This has been a downright disastrous season for Bo Bichette. I don't think anyone could have foreseen this because, yeah, he had a tough year in 2024, but it wasn't this bad. And it's actually quite impressive how bad he's been. So, what's the deal here? What's causing it? Well, let's take a deeper dive into Bo Bichette's numbers. That's his Baseball Savant page this year. Now, looking at it, just judging off of blues and reds and not even diving into the analytical pragmatics of it, it's really not that bad. Now, is it $42 million not that bad? No. $42 million, you want to see a lot more red. You certainly want to see better base running at the very least. The fielding, which was a concern coming in this year as the Mets signed him to be their primary third baseman and he was switching from shortstop, surprisingly and ironically, that actually really hasn't been a problem. In fact, I would say, based on the eye test alone, that he has been slightly above average there. Outside of a couple throwing errors in the first week of the season, he's really settled down. And I really like what I've seen. But overall, expected batting average, over 270. The expected batting average in Major League Baseball, or I'm sorry, the average batting average is 240. So that would be well above average and it's reflected here. Average exit velo. People say all the time, oh, Bobachette, he's just not hitting the ball as hard. You know, that might be true in terms of he's not hitting it as hard, he's still hitting it pretty hard. Average exit velo over 90 miles per hour, pretty good. Hard hit percentage, pretty good. Chase percentage, I mean, look, he's a free swinger. He doesn't walk a lot. Those have never been strengths of his game. The Mets and David Stearns knew that when they signed him. But overall, if you compare this to what he did in 2025, it's really not that much worse. And look, I'm not trying to defend Bobachette or say he's been good or anything like that. The results have been terrible. But if you're trying to forecast what he's going to do the rest of the year, he's not as far away as what he's done in the past. The main signal here that is certainly negative for me is that his launch angle has significantly decreased. His launch angle was actually well above average in 2025. Helped him lift the ball, helped him be an extra base hit machine. I mean, this year it's been below average. Not significantly below average, but it makes a difference, makes a big difference. And unfortunately, it makes him more liable to hit into tough luck when you're not lifting the ball. There's a higher likelihood that it's going to land in a glove instead of going over a glove. And it leads to this. These are the unluckiest hitters in baseball. I pulled up the lowest OPSs earlier in this video. And again, not trying to excuse him, but objectively speaking, Bobachette has not been as bad as his actual numbers suggest. He has not hit nearly the way any of us wanted or hoped or expected for the price tag that he was given. However, it is unfair to say that he deserves the batting line he has. He simply doesn't. Based on this, his expected weighted on base average is right around league average at 330. Currently, it's 260. And I know this isn't an Astros video, but I mean, you have to point out Jordan Alvarez. Side note here, Jordan, one of the best hitters in the game, has some of the best stats already. And he's literally the sixth unluckiest hitter. That's a scary sidebar for the league. But that's besides the point. Bobachette's been incredibly unlucky. That's going to turn around. 162 game seasons. Guys don't play and stay healthy from wire to wire in 162 game campaigns being this consistently unlucky. And this run of bad fortune is backed up by all of the top statistic projections. You look here, Steamer, Zips, OPSY, some of the most trusted projection software companies in Major League Baseball, all projecting between two to two and a half wins above replacement for the remainder of the season, as well as OPSs that are well into the mid to high 700s, approaching 800. Given the fact that Bobachette's stats are currently at this state where he's a 572 OPS, and he's batting every single day, number two in the lineup, which has statistically shown to be the most important batting position in baseball, where you get the most at bats, the most opportunities to drive in runs. If Bobachette were to revert to where he is expected to be statistically based on his batted balls, and by guys, by the way, when I, when I bring up ex-Wobo, all of that, what that means is based on the physics and the nature of the balls he's hitting, he should be expected to have this certain stat line. And unfortunately at a higher rate than most every player in Major League Baseball, he's hitting into good defensive plays. He's hitting into well-positioned defenders. When he is hitting the ball really hard, it's right at guys. And I don't believe that that will or can continue just based off the law of averages. So I'd pick that to go in the opposite direction for Bo. And speaking of picks again, guys, this video is brought to you by PrizePicks. Use the download description below using code digest and let me get right into it. Guys, we all know that we're getting closer to the Knicks finals. I'm as excited as, as possible. Of course, talking about Bobachette and his struggles, you know, puts a damper on that a bit, but nonetheless, I'm super excited and I'm looking at Jalen Brunson and I'm going more on their points total over 25 and a half. I'm going more than five and a half assists. And for Victor Wembenyama, although I don't want him to absolutely eat against the Knicks as a sports fan, you just know it's going to happen. Even if you're not a sports fan, you see what Victor Wembenyama on the court, you know, that guy is going to do some damage. How could he not? I mean, he is a freak of nature in a great way, especially if you're a Spurs fan. And guys, during this series, PrizePicks has a great promotion going on. It is called the Scary Hours Boost. During these NBA playoffs, and now we're in the finals, PrizePicks is doing it live each night. So each night during the NBA finals, PrizePicks is dropping a Scary Hours Payout Boost, which will level up members lineups on all of the NBA action. So if you set a lineup for the NBA finals, like me, that lineup will be boosted. There will be a payout boost. So get in on that right now, and let's get back in on Bo Bichette. You might disagree with me, and many will, because it's easy to trash on Bichette and his performance so far. But I believe, not that he'll be the 42 million dollar player that was promised, but I believe that he will be an above average hitter the rest of the season. And given the fact that he hasn't been moved out of number two in the lineup, and given the fact that because he hasn't been moved out of number two in the lineup, he probably won't ever be moved out of number two in the lineup. The improvement that we are forecasted to see from Bo Bichette is going to be astronomical. I know it sounds crazy, but this is likely to happen. This is going to happen if the statistics and the physics of how he's hitting the baseball, the rate of contact, the exit velocity, if all that remains constant, he will be a better baseball player. Does that mean this was a good signing? No. I believe that Bo Bichette was a reactionary signing. I'd be lying if I said I was against it at the time. I know I wasn't making videos back then, but when the Mets did sign Bo Bichette, I was all for it. Now, whether it's a good contract or not doesn't matter. Doesn't mean he can't produce. He will be better than this. Now, he's dug himself such a hole that when it to that looming player option, will Bo Bichette exercise it? I don't see how he could. The only way he can exercise that option is if he plays MVP caliber baseball the rest of the season. He has almost negative one win above replacement. That is dreadful. So, assuming he gets back closer to where he is from a career average standpoint, he's going to end up having a down year, but he will finish the latter two-thirds of the season significantly better, and that will completely change the outlook and the dynamic of the New York Mets lineup. But how do you see it? And I can tell this might generate a good amount of negativity, a good amount of disapproval. Trust me, I'm expecting it, and I welcome it. We all want what's best for the team. Will Bichette turn it around? Yes, he's getting unlucky and will revert closer to his career norms. That's, that's me. I might be the only one in that boat, but I'm trusting the statistics. Or do you believe? No, he's not gonna go back to that. He's been terrible, and he's gonna be terrible the rest of the year, and he's gonna opt in. Now, I do think he will opt in. I think it's gonna be almost impossible for him not to at this point. But let me know. Let me know what you think. Comment below. Make sure that you're putting on push notifications, because Michael Duda, co-creator, he has been absolutely grinding, putting out a ton of amazing content. You don't want to miss anything from either of us. As we keep churning it out, guys, the dog days are approaching. Mets baseball, it may not look pretty right now, but hey, it's baseball, and we love it. We love the Mets, and that's about it for today, guys. Let me know what you think, and as always, let's go Mets.