The newest members of the Mets' infield have a chance of doing something quite rare on Opening Day.
Earlier this winter, the Mets signed Jorge Polanco with the intent of using him as a first baseman. Then, they reportedly added Bo Bichette to play third base.
The two have combined for a grand total of one career MLB game at their respective projected positions for this campaign.
Bichette has never played third in the Majors or Minors. The only fielding position he had played at the MLB level was shortstop, until he played second base in the 2025 World Series.
That means the one game of experience belongs to Polanco at first base. But not all games on a fielding log are created equal.
His lone game at first was April 6, 2025. In the bottom of the ninth in San Francisco, Victor Robles got injured. Among the defensive changes, Polanco entered the game off the bench to play first base. On the first pitch of the next at-bat, Wilmer Flores hit a walk-off single up the middle. That is the extent of Polanco's experience at first. He’s played shortstop, second base and third base in his fielding career at the MLB level.
If the Mets start Bichette and Polanco at third and first base, respectively, on Opening Day, they will become just the second team in the last 100 years to start two non-rookie infielders on Opening Day with no more than one prior MLB game at that position, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
They would join the 1948 Dodgers, who started Jackie Robinson at second and Billy Cox at third. Robinson had played exclusively first base in his '47 rookie season, and Cox had only played shortstop in his three prior MLB seasons. Robinson went on to play more games at second than at any other position in his career, and Cox did the same with third base.
Just because you haven’t played the position in an MLB game yet at one point in time doesn’t mean you won’t go on to be a stalwart there, as that duo showed. Bichette and Polanco are two veteran infielders who have shown their value and are simply adding more versatility to their skill sets.
Three-fourths of a new infield
If they do start at those positions on Opening Day, Bichette and Polanco would be doing so in their Mets debuts. The expectation is that Marcus Semien, acquired via trade earlier this offseason, would be starting alongside them at second base, with Francisco Lindor at shortstop.
That means three-fourths of the team’s infield would be making their Mets debuts.
This would be the fourth time in franchise history that at least three of the Mets’ four starting infielders on Opening Day were making their team debuts in the same game, per Elias.
The last time it happened was in 1992, with Eddie Murray (1B), Willie Randolph (2B) and Bill Pecota (3B). Before that, it was in the Mets’ first two seasons of existence -- in 1963, with Tim Harkness (1B), Larry Burright (2B) and Al Moran (SS), and in 1962, with Gil Hodges (1B), Charlie Neal (2B), Don Zimmer (3B) and Felix Mantilla (SS).
Whether by positions being played or simply the personnel, this will be a new-look infield for the Mets in late March as the season gets underway, with the potential for a historic feat.