PORT ST. LUCIE — Bo Bichette was back in a game for the first time since his Blue Jays lost Game 7 of the World Series to the Dodgers to end last season.
The goal with his new team is to get back to October and after years of coming up short in Toronto, Bichette believes he brings some successful postseasons to Queens.
“I learned it’s not too complicated,’’ Bichette said of winning in the playoffs. “It’s about having a group of more than 26 guys on the same page come together every day. You have conversations about what it looks like and what you want the identity of the team to be. It comes down to having the entire locker room here to win.”
That, he hopes, is already happening, but they will also need David Stearns’ plan of having four middle infielders often manning the entire infield come together.
The Great Infield Experiment began on Saturday, with Bichette at third base for their Grapefruit League opener against Miami at Clover Park, which they lost 2-1.
And naturally, Bichette was tested with a grounder down the line in his first game at his new position.
The former shortstop backhanded Connor Norby’s ground ball before his long throw tailed a bit as Jose Rojas tried to corral the ball at first.
The play was ruled an error by Rojas, who could have made the play — but after he exited the game, Bichette said, “The throw could have been better, for sure.”
Asked if it was a more difficult throw than the one he was accustomed to from hole at short, Bichette said, “I don’t know if it’s tougher. It’s different.”
Carlos Mendoza said Bichette was “fine” in his debut at third, adding he’s liked what he’s seen from his arm during camp.
He’ll be tested throughout the spring, as Bichette will get plenty of reps at third, as he breaks in there, with Jorge Polanco at first.
Polanco didn’t play Saturday, while Marcus Semien made his Mets spring debut at second, with Francisco Lindor out, recovering from hand surgery.
“Playing third was fun,” Bichette said of his debut. “I’m learning something new.”
Among the realizations: “I noticed right away the viewpoint is different [than shortstop]. You can’t really look at the hitter. You look at the contact point. There’s definitely a lot of stuff I can learn in the game.”
There will be plays throughout the spring — and into the regular season — that Bichette has never seen before, with Polanco experiencing similar challenges at first base.
But the Mets are confident the ex-middle infielders are up to the challenge of moving to the corners, with their bats helping make up for whatever learning curves they go through defensively.
And they’ve talked extensively about what both veteran players bring to the roster in terms of experience and culture.
For Bichette, he’s confident having seen it finally gel last season in Toronto helps translate to similar results with the Mets.
“It’s about the process,’’ Bichette said of what he figured out in Toronto, along with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. “The organization was kind of put in Vlad’s and my hands at a really young age and we went through a lot of ups and downs. We had some really good times and not so good times that shaped us to get to the point that it was just really about winning. It’s not that we didn’t think it was about that from the beginning, but we had to get to the point where it really was the main focus and the only thing we cared about. We had to set that culture.”
It will be a different challenge with the Mets.
“I think I can bring who I am and how I play on the field and what matters to me,’’ Bichette said. “Hopefully that turns into conversations about winning — and that’s already happening.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
