J.D. Davis, Pete Alonso Showing Their Worth At The Plate

Through three weeks of the still-infant 2021 season, no Met – outside of Brandon Nimmo and his .370/.477/.500 slash line – has regularly contributed enough to back up the stellar starting pitching the team has enjoyed.

It seems that of late, though, the two big righties in the Mets’ lineup, Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis, are coming around to do just that.

Sunday’s rubber game against the Nationals showed exactly what that duo is capable of at the plate. Alonso, hitting out of the two-hole for the first time this season, went 1-for-2 with two walks, two runs scored and an RBI. The Polar Bear launched his fifth home run of the year to dead center in the fifth inning to help the Mets win the game 4-0 and the series behind seven scoreless innings from Taijuan Walker.

Davis slotted into the cleanup spot Sunday against National lefty Patrick Corbin, occupying Alonso’s normal place. The red-hot third baseman wasted no time in leaving his mark, blasting a first-inning, two-run home run to center field to give the Mets an early lead. Davis finished the day 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.

Without a doubt, both Alonso and Davis have the power and ability to contribute every day from the right side of the plate, but neither is without adversity.

After enjoying the best rookie year at the plate in MLB history, to the tune of a rookie record 53 home runs and 120 RBI, Alonso stumbled in last year’s COVID-19 shortened season. Much of his struggles stemmed from issues with pitch selection, something he noticeably has reworked early in his third year in the big leagues.

“In ‘19 when we all witnessed what he did with the record-setting year that he had,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said after Sunday’s win. “…last year we saw that he was scattered a little bit with his swing decision, but this is the Pete that we know, he looks really comfortable at the plate.”

That improved approach has translated to a .267/.357/.550 slash line through the early going, along with his five homers and 12 RBI. Over his last seven games, Alonso is hitting .333 with three home runs and four walks to four strikeouts.

“I’m a little bit more relaxed and I’m sticking to my game plan and swinging at quality pitches allows me to get into my legs,” Alonso said. “I feel like being in my legs is a product of making quality swing decisions and staying in my zone … pitch selection is really huge regarding my success so far early in the year.”

After a pitch hit him in the hand on Opening Day, forcing a 10-Day Injured List stint, Davis returned last Saturday and has torn the cover off the ball in the last eight days, hitting .414 on the year with an OPS of 1.175.

“He’s swinging the way he’s swinging when he’s on fire,” Rojas said of Davis.

The problem with the third baseman, though, is exactly that – third base. Through 10 games, Davis already has three errors, an alarming trend for a team that needs to outplay its ability in the field if it wants to have success.

After three errors in the span of two games against the Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday, Rojas opted to sit Davis for the sure-handed Luis Guillorme on Thursday. Credit to Davis, though, who has been better in the field since then and hasn’t let his deficiencies on that side of the ball plague him at the plate.

So while Davis may never be mistaken for Scott Rolen at third, and Alonso may still chase a ball out of the zone here and there, the Mets are unquestionably a better team with both their bats in the lineup, something they’re leaving little doubt about right now.