The New York Mets have selected first baseman Peter Alonso out of the University of Florida with the 64th overall pick in the 2016 first-year player draft.
The 21-year old right-handed slugger has seen his stock climb in recent weeks. His improved contact rate and plus raw power makes him very attractive. More likely to stick at first base, his defense is pedestrian and he has no speed.
Alonso is currently batting .364 with a whopping .628 slugging percentage for the No. 1 ranked Gators. He’s hit 14 doubles, 12 homers and has driven in 52 this season.
MLB.com says:
As a high school third baseman at Plant High School in Tampa, Alonso went undrafted. After three years at the University of Florida, that won’t happen again, as he was swinging a hot bat at the right time as the Draft approached.
Alonso was making consistent, hard contact for the Gators as his junior season progressed. He’s always had raw power, but didn’t always look like he could tap into it consistently. Lately, however, he’s shortened his swing and begun to use the whole field more effectively, showing extra-base pop to the opposite field. Much of his success stems from a more open stance which has helped him get his hips through more consistently. He’s a first baseman only with well below-average speed, though his hands and footwork at the corner infield position should be adequate.
As a right-right first baseman, the bat is really going to have to play. Offensive college performers tend to do well in the Draft, and Alonso’s raw natural power was giving him some helium as the spring progressed.
Baseball America says:
Injuries have dogged Alonso the last two seasons–he missed 30 games in 2015 with a broken foot and later broke his nose, and in May 2016 he missed time with a broken left hand. He nevertheless has been the Gators’ most consistent power bat in that span and was leading the ’16 Gators in batting and homers when he got hurt. Alonso didn’t show much power in the Cape Cod League last summer with Bourne after hitting 18 the previous summer during an MVP turn in the Northwoods League.
Alonso has plus raw power, hitting the first-ever home run to center field at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha during the 2015 College World Series. At 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, Alonso does it with strength rather than bat speed and is a poor runner who likely will be limited to first base, but his righthanded power is his carrying tool.
