New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso went into the last offseason with no clarity on his long-term future, but has emerged through the first six weeks of the season as the undisputed top hitter in the National League.
Now, Alonso could be on to an even bigger title by the end of the year.
Jordan Shusterman of Yahoo Sports predicted that Alonso would finish the season with the NL Triple Crown, the first player to achieve that mark in the MLB since Miguel Cabrera in 2012.
Pete Alonso Making Most of Short-Term Deal
Shusterman noted that Alonso entered the season as an “intriguing character,” having failed to get the big-money, long-term deal he had been seeking and instead returning to the Mets on a one-year deal.
“His lengthy free agency that culminated in a short-term deal to stay in Queens was one of the bigger storylines of the winter, and it set the stage for Alonso to either prove all the uninterested teams wrong or validate their concerns by continuing to trend in the wrong direction,” Shusterman wrote for MLB.com.
Shusterman noted that Alonso answered questions about his play in a big way — and could be on track for the first Mets batter in history to win the Triple Crown of batting percentage, home runs, and RBI.
“This is most evident in his sky-high batting average (.328!), which is the key ingredient of this bold prediction,” he wrote. “The notion that Alonso could lead the league in home runs and/or RBIs is hardly an ambitious proclamation and seems highly plausible at this point. But entering this season, it would’ve been far-fetched to expect a career .249 hitter to compete for a batting title in tandem with his usual power production. Yet here we are!”
That would put Alonso in rare company. Cabrera is the MLB’s only Triple Crown winner this century, with the last one before that coming in 1967 with Boston Red Sox slugger Carl Yastrzemski. The Mets did have a Triple Crown-winning pitcher, with teenage phenom Dwight Gooden earning the achievement in 1985 while leading the league with 24 wins, a 1.53 ERA, and 268 strikeouts.
Pete Alonso’s Big Improvements
Alonso’s big output this year is backstopped by some other key metrics, including significant improvements in his walk rate (15.4%) and strikeout rate (17.2%) — which NJ.com noted are both career highs.
Agent Scot Boras told ESPN’s Buster Olney that expanding Alonso’s approach to hit to the opposite field was a big part of his jump in production.
“The key was advancing the idea of staying inside the ball and utilizing the opposite field with his remarkable bat speed and that would produce great production and intimidate pitchers,” Boras said. “The trust of his bat speed to stay inside the ball approach has landed and his selectivity and walk rate (have) dramatically responded.”
Alonso’s hot start, combined with a league-best ERA from their pitching staff, has helped the Mets jump out to a 24-14 record, leading the NL East with a 1.5-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets are looking to build on last year’s surprise trip to the NLCS.
Mets Slugger Pete Alonso Predicted to Make MLB History