Player Data: Age: 26 (12/07/1994), B/T: R/R
Primary Stats: 153 G, 561 PA, .262 BA, .344 OBP, .519 SLG, .863 OPS, 147 H, 37 HR, 94 RBI, 60 BB, 127 SO
Advanced Stats: 133 wRC+, 19.9% K%, 9.4% BB%, .274 BABIP, .373 xwOBA, 3.0 fWAR, 4.2 bWAR
2021 Salary: $676,000
Grade: A
2021 Review
After suffering from a bit of a sophomore slump in 2020, Pete Alonso was facing a fair amount of pressure to prove he was the Mets first basemen of not only the present but the future. Fellow first basemen Dom Smith was coming off a breakout season and people were questioning whether the Polar Bear’s Rookie of the Year season in 2019 was a fluke or not.
In the 2020 shortened season Pete struggled batting just .231 and opposing teams pitchers simply seemed to find more success against him after having a full year of Alonso blitzing out of nowhere absolutely crushing baseballs. Between being seen more and the obvious craziness that ensued in the MLB as a whole due to COVID-19 it was understandable for Pete to have a bit of a letdown, and with the added pressure of adding another superstar player to the team and a brand new owner it would’ve been easy for him to continue sinking and never get back to that elite level. All Pete did was go out and show everyone that the incredible rookie season wasn’t a fluke by knocking 37 homers and became the most consistent Mets batter in the 2021 season while proving himself to be one of the elite first basemen in the league.
One of the biggest factors for Pete this season was being one of the few Mets who didn’t suffer from any serious injury issues throughout the season. For the second time in his three seasons Pete played in over 150+ of the teams games and was top 2 on the team in plate appearances. Alonso did have one brief stint on the IL after dealing with a hand issue but began his hot start to the end of the season almost immediately after coming off the list. In June alone he batted .293 with 6 home runs and he only got better after the All Star break.
Before talking about Pete’s great second half we’d be crazy to not talk about the Polar Bear defending his Home Run Derby crown in July. Pete went through Salvador Perez, NL East rival Juan Soto, and Trey Mancini by smashing 74 total home runs in 3 rounds to defend the title he earned in 2019. Pete almost doubled his 2021 salary winning $1 million dollars while also throwing out a bold claim saying “I’m the best power hitter on the planet.”.
Pete would then follow up that claim by knocking 20 home runs in his furious second half of the season and becoming the second fastest player in MLB history to 100 home runs. In the second half of the season Alonso would obtain a 147 wRC+ (weighted runs created) which was 47 points higher than league average.
Another major addition to Pete’s game was his improved defense. A lot of media and fans alike believed that when the inevitable addition of the universal DH to National League happened that Alonso would be best suited at DH instead of being an every day first baseman. Pete has taken this personal though and has said as recently as prior to the final series of the 2021 season that he’s not interested in just being a designated hitter. “I think I’m a really good first baseman with potential to win a Gold Glove” Pete said.
In 2021 Alonso would compile 1,243 2/3 innings at first base while securing +5 defensive runs saved, good for third most among all first basemen in the majors, and +1 outs above average, sixth best in the majors among all first basemen as well, with both of those being a career best.
In just one short season Pete worked his tail off to go from a statistical liability at first to now potentially keeping his word on having a chance to win multiple Gold Gloves. While there’s no guarantee that those statistics are sustainable due to a relatively short sample size, the amount of work that Alonso has put in that is noticeable just from eye test alone should give fans plenty of hope.
All in all I felt Alonso more than earned an A grade for the season. I feel as if the disappointment of the 2021 season as well as just how great Pete’s season was in 2019 cloud a lot of people’s eyes. When you set the bar as high as he did in his rookie year it’s understandable why some could not be as high as I was on his 2021 season, but overall I’d go as far as to say his 2021 season was just as good as his award winning rookie year. While his home runs and RBI’s were lower this season, his increased defensive ability as well as significantly decreasing his strike outs and stepping up as a team leader make Pete a better overall player in year three.
2022 Outlook
With the DH seeming more likely than ever to become permanent in the NL in 2022 I’d expect to see Pete play an extremely large majority of his innings at first with the occasional game at designated hitter to give Dom Smith some opportunities at first, but fresh off perhaps the best season of his young career the only way I continue to see things going for New York’s resident Polar Bear is up. Pete was just recently named a finalist for the All-MLB team as one of the best first basemen in the game and his combination of being one of the best sluggers in the game and being a very reliable defensive anchor on the right side of the infield should see Alonso continue to blaze a trail for himself and continue to be one of the leaders and faces of the New York Mets franchise.
