For every dark cloud, there is a silver lining. For the 2019 New York Mets, this has been their rookie first baseman – providing a hopeful spin on an exceedingly gloomy season.
With the club’s 44-51 record, they sit 13 games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves in the NL East and five games out of a Wild Card berth behind nine other teams. Times have been tough in Queens and while Mets fans may be at the point of retiring their caps for the season, one slugger has kept them coming to the ballpark and tuning in every night, and that’s Polar Bear Pete Alonso.
Through the first half of the season, the Mets’ rookie phenomenon hit .280/.372/.634 with 30 home runs. He shattered the franchise’s rookie home run record of 26 set by Darryl Strawberry in 1983 back in June, and his 30 first-half homers are tied with Aaron Judge for the second most hit by a rookie prior to the All-Star break, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
Last week, Alonso outlasted fellow rookie sensation Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the Home Run Derby to bring the crown home to New York. He hit 57 bombs and pledged to donate 10% of his prize money to two charities – 5% to the Wounded Warrior Project, and 5% to Tunnel to Towers. A leader on and off the field, Pete is admired not only for his work on the diamond, but his heart, charisma, and fighting spirit.
The Tampa-native went through a minor slump during his first four games after the Midsummer Classic that sent fans into a tail-spin. Many believed that the “jinx” of the Derby was responsible for the rookie going 1-for-17 with eight strikeouts in his first 17 post-Derby at-bats.
Alonso silenced fans’ nervous chatter in yesterday’s 14-4 win over the Minnesota Twins when he crushed a 474-foot home run – the farthest of his career – deep left up into the third deck of Target Field for his 31st of the season.
The moonshot was Alonso’s 54th extra base hit of the year, setting a Mets franchise record for the most extra base hits by a rookie with 67 games left to play this season.
“It’s not every day you connect like that,” Alonso said. “That felt really good.”
The Polar Bear has hit seven home runs of at least 440 feet this season – a Major League best – and his bomb yesterday night went farther than any of the 57 home runs he hit in the Home Run Derby, per Jake Elman of UPI.
Alonso is on pace to become the first Met since Carlos Beltran in 2006 to hit 40 home runs in a season. The Mets all-time single-season home run record is 41, set by Todd Hundley in 1996. On the season, he is slashing .270/.365/.613 with 31 homers, 71 RBI, and a 40/102 BB/K ratio.
The 24-year-old’s rookie campaign has been nothing short of impressive. From watching him mash dingers all season, to witnessing him secure the Derby crown, Alonso has won over the hearts of Met fans and has turned heads across baseball, setting the foundation for a strong campaign towards the 2019 National League Rookie of the Year award.
