Bo Bichette isn’t going anywhere. According to Jon Heyman, the shortstop is not expected to activate his opt-out clause with the New York Mets, even after showing improvement over the past couple of months. The Mets still owe him $84 million — making him the fourth-highest-paid player in all of baseball — and that kind of guaranteed money changes every calculation.
Why Staying Makes More Sense Than Leaving
The logic is straightforward: opting out right now would mean heading back to free agency as the same player who finished 2025 with questions hanging over him. Staying locked in with the Mets guarantees $84 million already on the books, plus another opt-out window down the road — essentially a second shot at negotiating from a much stronger position. That’s not a bad deal when you’re not exactly hitting .300 with 35 home runs.
Heyman’s report, published August 21, confirms what had already been taking shape: Bichette has been better lately, but not «turn down $84 million and bet on yourself» better. That’s a move for someone who just won a Cy Young or is putting up monster numbers. Bichette, right now, isn’t there.
What His 2026 Numbers Actually Say
Through 127 games in 2026, Bichette is hitting .266 AVG with a .702 OPS — functional numbers for a mid-tier shortstop, but harder to defend when your paycheck reads «fourth-highest-paid player in MLB.»
His average exit velocity sits at 89.5 mph, landing him right at the 55th percentile — league average, nothing more. But here’s the number that keeps him off the «wasted contract» list: his xBA (expected batting average) ranks in the 89th percentile. Based purely on the quality of contact he’s making, he should be hitting considerably better than .266. The bat isn’t the problem.
The problem is discipline. Bichette’s chase rate sits in the 4th percentile — one of the worst marks in the entire league. He’s going after bad pitches at an alarming rate, and it’s killing his on-base numbers: just a .314 OBP in 548 plate appearances. His whiff rate is solid at the 76th percentile, meaning when pitchers actually challenge him in the zone, he makes contact. The issue is that opposing pitchers have completely figured out how to work him — and they’re not throwing him many strikes.
What This Means for the Mets
For New York, Bichette not opting out is good news — with an asterisk. They keep a shortstop with 134 hits in 2026 and a contact profile that a 89th-percentile xBA backs up. He’s not the weak link in the lineup if you put the right pieces around him and opposing pitchers can’t just live in his chase zone.
What the Mets can’t afford is for that 4th-percentile discipline to become a permanent fixture. With another opt-out window ahead, Bichette has his own incentive to fix it: improve that number and his market value climbs. Don’t fix it, and the Mets are carrying $84 million committed to one of the highest chase rates in the game.
The Numbers Behind the Decision
Here’s the full Statcast picture for Bo Bichette in 2026:
- Plate appearances: 548
- Home runs: 12 | RBI: 64
- AVG: .266
- OPS: .702
- xwOBA: .325 (what quality of contact says he should be producing)
- Average exit velocity: 89.5 mph
- Barrel rate: 6.4%
- Hard-hit rate: 40.7%
- Average bat speed: 69.9 mph
How he compares to the rest of MLB:
- Chase rate: 4th percentile (one of the worst in baseball)
- Whiff rate: 76th percentile (one of the better marks in the league)
