It was only a matter of time, but we are getting to the point of the season where records are going to start falling due to the unprecedented power of Pete Alonso.
Alonso has been on a torrid home run pace all season, keeping up with the best sluggers in the game as a rookie. Last night, Alonso put the Mets ahead 3-0 in the first inning, when he hit a 451-foot moonshot into the drink in center field.
In doing so, Alonso tied Cody Bellinger‘s NL record for home runs hit by a rookie with 39. He is also just one home run behind Bellinger and Mike Trout for the current lead for home runs hit in all of baseball this season. Alonso now has 39 home runs and 91 RBIs this season, a feat that has only been accomplished by three other rookies in MLB history. Aaron Judge and Bellinger both reached those marks in their simultaneous Rookie of the Year campaigns in 2017 and Mark McGwire was the first to do so back when he won the Rookie of the Year in 1987.
Alonso was just getting started too, as he got on base in each of his six plate appearances, going 5-for-5 with a walk. Amed Rosario was on base for Alonso’s first inning home run, as he too had himself a career night. Rosario would be in scoring position again in the fifth and the seventh innings and Alonso drove him home both times with singles. Rosario scored four runs and the duo became the first pair of Mets to ever both record five hits in the same game. Alonso finished the night with six RBIs, becoming just the third Mets rookie to ever have such a night, joining Jeromy Burnitz and David Wright.
For Alonso, this breakout night was long overdue, as he has struggled to get himself going in the second half. Even after the five hits, Alonso is hitting just .218/.360/.482 since the All-Star break. He has still done a great job getting on base with walks (20) and hitting home runs (9), but the slash line has dipped significantly compared to his first-half marks of .280/.372/.634.
Now since the calendar turned to August, Alonso’s numbers have gotten a lot better, as he is hitting .320/.414/.660 this month after his big night Thursday. If he can keep hitting at this current pace, there will be plenty of records set to fall as Alonso tries to finish out his Rookie of the Year campaign.
The next one is obvious, the NL rookie home run record, which will fall with Alonso’s next home run. That homer will also put him just one shy of the Mets single-season home run record, which is shared by Carlos Beltran and Todd Hundley with 41 home runs. Alonso also has the chance to set a new MLB record for home runs hit by a rookie, if he can eclipse Aaron Judge’s mark of 52 hit back in 2017.
Along with the home run records, Alonso also has a legitimate chance to break another pair of Mets records. With 64 extra-base hits on the season, Alonso is just 16 shy of tying the franchise record held by Beltran and Howard Johnson. The last franchise record that Alonso could reach is Mike Piazza and David Wright’s record for most RBIs in a season with 124.
Alonso already has 91 RBIs on the season, so he would need to drive in 34 more runs over the last 41 games to break the record. While the single-season RBI record would be a great achievement, Alonso has already exceeded all expectations as he is the first Met to eclipse 90 RBIs in a season since Lucas Duda did so back in 2014.
The crazy part about this season, is that Alonso is having one of the best statistical years in franchise history and he is just a rookie. The slugger should only get better over time, leaving no Mets record untouchable for the ‘Polar Bear’ to capture.
