Mets’ Bo Bichette finding consistency ahead of trade deadline: ‘I’ve always had a good approach’

MILWAUKEE — In a season where so much has changed, some of the Mets now find themselves trying to get back to what they know, and what got them to this point.

Bo Bichette came into the season knowing that everything was going to be different. The 28-year-old was coming to a new team for the first time and switching positions. He knew it would be a challenge, but he might have underestimated how long it would take to acclimate to that challenge.

“It’s easier to handle things when you’re prepared for them, and I think that there’s just a lot of things that I wasn’t prepared for,” Bichette told the Daily News on Tuesday in Milwaukee. “Just getting used to new coaches, new training staff. The teammates are a little different; that’s similar, I think. But yeah, dealing with everybody and creating new relationships and all that.”

When Bichette struggled to hold back tears in Toronto, the city where he had spent the entirety of his big league baseball career until 2026, it was obvious that all of the changes had been tough on the third baseman. He’s only human, as are the rest of the Mets, and the human side of the game has shown through in a difficult season.

Bichette naturally put a lot of pressure on himself to succeed in New York. He wasn’t alone and still isn’t.

The Mets aren’t sure what to make of Freddy Peralta, but they know he’s felt pressure to be not just good, but great for a new team and a new fanbase. So too have Luis Robert Jr., Jorge Polanco and Marcus Semien. Juan Soto dealt with the same feelings in 2025. There is more pressure in New York than in many other markets, especially when you play for a team with one of the league’s highest payrolls.

It’s privilege, as Billy Jean King once said, and the Mets tend to embrace that notion. Still, sometimes you don’t know what that pressure will feel like until you’re in it. Bichette now understands it and has turned his season around after a slow start.

Since the start of June, he’s hit .322 with an .822 OPS. He’s taking more walks, and he’s putting the ball in play with runners in scoring position, an aspect of his game that has long been a strength. After moving back to his natural shortstop position when Francisco Lindor was injured, he’s now back at third base, where he’s impressed the coaches with his aptitude and athleticism.

“Having to go back to his old position and then go back to his new one again, I mean that’s been very, very impressive,” said bench coach Kai Correa. “I’m proud of him and the work he’s put in. I’m also proud of like the mental toughness, whether that’s playing through injury or playing back and forth within a single game, and even appearing at second base this year.”

Yes, mistakes have been made. They’ve been made in the field and at the plate. He understands they’re going to happen, but he’s not worried about them spiraling.

“More consistency, better approach, calmer — all those things,” Bichette said. “I think just probably getting comfortable in new surroundings and just remembering who I am, and that’s it.”

When he struggles, you can find him in the cages taking “too many swings” in search of the right adjustments. Hand position, open stance or closed, the swing plane and the timing of the swing. But at this point in his career, he understands that it’s less about finding one game-changing adjustment, and more about getting back to the mechanics that have helped him hit his way to two All-Star appearances and MVP votes in four of the last five seasons.

It’s a search for consistency — something the Mets are still searching for months into the season.

“I’ve always had a good approach, I think. I guess I could say it’s sticking to it and trusting it, not wavering from it as much,” Bichette said. “I still have my moments for sure. I don’t think that I’ve really been as good as I can be, but I’ve been a consistent version of myself and a more steady version of myself.”

Bichette has put a lot on himself this season. This is a better version of Bichette than the Mets saw earlier in the year, and if they can keep him past the trade deadline and into next season, they could be better off for it. It doesn’t seem as though he wants to be dealt, though he doesn’t exactly want to talk about it.

Maybe the best argument for him to stay is that he’s finally comfortable in a Mets uniform.

“Every season has its own its own story,” he said. “Unfortunately, for me and for the team, if I had played better early on, maybe it’d be a different situation. But that’s in the past, so I’m just kind of letting all that go and trying to be the best version of myself now.”