Peter Alonso, as has been well detailed thus far, has been tremendous with the Binghamton Mets early on this season.
He has a .400/.500/.788 slash line with eight homers and 22 RBI to go along with only 17 strikeouts and 16 walks in 80 at-bats this season.
Alonso’s production has apparently opened some eyes in the organization as Sandy Alderson admitted in yesterday’s press conference.
“He’s been great the first month of the season. Not only has he hit well, but his defense has apparently improved quite a bit. He’s certainly put himself on the map.”
The Mets director of player development, Ian Levin, believes in the slugger as well, as detailed by Anthony Dicomo of MLB.com during the offseason.
“He’s got a chance to be a prototypical slugging first baseman. He has elite raw power and has shown consistent ability to use it in games, and his overall ability to hit should allow him to continue to progress.”
Meanwhile, Ben Badler of Baseball America wrote this about the first baseman earlier this week on his Prospect Hot Sheet.
“Alonso’s plus raw power has long been his carrying tool. He hit well last year in the high-Class A Florida State League, but he’s showing signs of becoming an even more complete hitter in 2018. He doesn’t strike out excessively and he’s displaying more plate patience than he did a year ago.”
Keith Law also thinks highly of the first baseman, so much so that he says that if he could do his top-100 prospect list over again, the 23-year old would be among them.
“Alonso would be a top 100 prospect now (given some graduations and new looks at him) and I think he’s an above-average regular at least.”
However, despite his success so far, that allowed him to win Eastern League Player of the Week, the Mets find themselves in an interesting predicament.
That is the result of their former top first prospect, Dominic Smith, who is currently hitting .282/.402/.412 with two homers and seven RBI in 85 at-bats at Triple-A Las Vegas.
Smith would be in the majors right now had he not struggled last season in his cup-of-coffee with the team in which he hit a mere .198/.262/.395 with nine homers and 26 RBI in 167 at-bats.
Now, the team currently employs Adrian Gonzalez at the position who has not fared well early on with a .232/.321/.391 slash line with three home runs and 17 RBI in 69 at-bats.
If the big-league team were to remain the same, though, Smith would be theoretically blocking Alonso from advancing past the Double-A level.
When asked by Michael Mayer of MMO/MMN which of the two between Smith and Alonso he would choose, a scout said this: “I like Alonso.”
For now, Alonso will continue to try and rake at the Binghamton until he hears otherwise.
