Francisco Lindor left Wednesday’s game with a calf injury, and Bo Bichette slid over to shortstop as the Mets tried to hold together an infield that may soon need another change. Brett Baty handled third base after Bichette moved across the diamond, and manager Carlos Mendoza said the team would wait for more testing on Thursday before deciding what comes next.
Mendoza did not rule out a bigger move if Lindor’s injury sends him to the injured list. “We’ll see,” he said when asked whether the alignment could stay the same. “If it’s an IL, we’ll make a move… Who that person will be? I have to talk to David (Stearns) to see what we got with Lindor, then we’ll go from there. I won’t hesitate if I need to play Bo there, but I think we’ll bring someone here that is capable of playing the position as well.”
The shift matters because Bichette is not being asked to fill in from a position of strength. He was batting.220/.255/.290 at the time of the move, well below the.311/.357/.483 line he posted with the Blue Jays last year. That dropped production has been part of the backdrop for a season that has not gone smoothly for Toronto, which lost to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday instead of finishing a sweep while dealing with early injuries that slowed the start of its year.
For the Mets, the concern is more immediate. Lindor’s status is tied to Thursday’s further testing and an MRI before a call is made on his availability, and the club is already acting as if the shortstop could miss time. The job that opened for Bichette on Wednesday was the natural one for him, but the question now is whether New York keeps patching the infield with internal options or brings in help before the injury picture worsens.
That choice may say as much about how the Mets see their infield depth as it does about Lindor’s leg. Bichette can cover shortstop if needed, but Mendoza’s comments make clear the club would rather not lean on that alone for long.