Pete Alonso is one of the best power hitters of his generation, and he’s building his case for being the best Mets power hitter ever.

In Sunday’s 6-3 win over the Mariners, Pete Alonso slugged his 40th and 41st home runs of the season. It was his 19th career multi-homer game, and it gave him his third 40-home run season. That’s as many as the rest of the Mets in team history combined (Carlos Beltrán, Todd Hundley, Mike Piazza).

Alonso, as the SNY broadcast pointed out, became just one of five players who’ve had 40-homer seasons within their first five seasons, joining Ralph Kiner, Eddie Mathews, Albert Pujols, and Ryan Howard. The 28-year-old called that statistic “mind-baffling,” a word you say when you really are baffled and your mind is boggled.

“It’s great to hit 40 homers,” he said after the game. “I guess it’s just trying to capitalize off mistakes and trying to stay locked in over a long period of time. The one thing I’m really excited about is [reaching 100 RBIs]. That means that everybody in front of me is putting together high-quality at-bats.”

With his dingers, Alonso also crossed 100 RBIs for the third time in four full seasons. (He was on pace for 43 home runs and 94 RBIs during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.)

He now has 187 career home runs in just five seasons. He’s already fifth all-time on the Mets’ home run list, and he’s just five shy of tying Howard Johnson, who hit his 192 homers in 1,154 games and 4,591 plate appearances. Alonso will likely match him in less than 700 games and just over 2,800 plate appearances. The apex is Darryl Strawberry, the best power hitter in Mets history, and his 252 home runs. Alonso will blow past that if he stays with the Mets beyond 2024.

Since joining MLB in 2019, Alonso has the most home runs and RBIs in all of baseball. His defense holds him back from ranking in the upper echelon of WAR, but there’s no denying he’s been one of the best—if not the best—power hitters in the game since his rookie season, when he set a rookie record with 53 home runs.

Alonso reached 40 home runs after a drought that lasted two weeks. During those two weeks, reports about the Mets’ willingness to trade him—to the Brewers specifically—surfaced. There were also bogus reports that Alonso was toxic to the clubhouse. He handled those conversations as a professional, per usual, and his teammates came to his support. (When Francisco Lindor was asked if a contract extension for Alonso would get done, he responded, “I would hope so.”)

He only has one year left of team control, and both general manager Billy Eppler and owner Steve Cohen have expressed interested and a willingness to agree to a contract extension. A future president of baseball operations would probably have an opinion on that, too. He’ll make over $20 million next year. His future contract will pay him nine figures. But Alonso’s remained the same since arriving to MLB.

“Regardless of what’s happening externally,” Alonso said, alluding to the various reports, “that doesn’t change my job.”

“My job is to come in every day and do whatever I can to help the team win.”

“He’s special,” manager Buck Showalter said after the game. “Through thick and thin, we know one thing, and that’s that Pete will walk through the door the same guy.”

“He cares about his teammates, and he cares about the Mets.”