Pete Alonso. Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Pete Alonso arrived back from the World Baseball Classic on Thursday and he came back with one thing on his mind: The Mets making it to the postseason.

Alonso represented a Team USA team that lost to Japan in the final of the tournament. So many players came back saying the WBC had the atmosphere of playoff baseball, and Alonso was no different.

“It’s an addicting feeling,” he said in an interview with Andrew DiComo of MLB.com. “To play playoff-type baseball early this year I think is going to be an extremely important experience and learning thing for me. To be able to jump right in during spring and to be able to experience that and be able to participate, it’s really special. I think that performing and then having those at-bats and experience, it’s going to be extremely valuable for October.”

Alonso was back in the lineup for the Mets on Friday for the second time since returning from the WBC, and it was clear that participating in that kind of atmospheric-baseball has him fired up.

Alonso went 2-for-3 against the Rays with a home run, walk, stolen base, and three RBIs. Alonso’s homer, his fourth of spring training, was a two-run blast in the third inning off of Luis Patino and extended his team’s lead.

Alonso is now batting .286/.412/.714, with a 1.126 OPS this spring. He has four home runs and seven RBIs. He finished the 2023 WBC 2-for-14 with one run and one RBI, but those lower stats are primarily due to Paul Goldschmidt getting most of the starts over Alonso during the tourney.

Playing competitive baseball this early has sparked the fire in Alonso’s belly, and has also helped him to get locked in for the regular season. That, coupled with the bad taste of losing to the San Diego Padres in the NL Wild Card series last year, has the slugger hungry for more in 2023 with Opening Day now firmly on the horizon.

“The result wasn’t there, but I wanted more,” Alonso said, referring to wanting a World Series win. “I think that’s trial-by-fire. Those high-leverage reps earlier in the year, they gave me a pretty good reminder of what I need to do in order, not just to be physically ready for the season, but how to control emotions in a super tense situation – whether it be a big series in the year or in the playoffs. That’s what it’s all for. I want to be able to draw from those big-game experiences, and then apply them.”

Alonso’s first stop he made upon returning to spring training camp on Thursday was the batting cages to get extra reps in before jumping straight in to a Grapefruit League matchup with the Braves on Thursday. And then Friday he was back in the lineup against Tampa Bay and it was clear he was on mission with his 2-for-3, three RBIs performance.

The Mets now have just two spring training games remaining before they get down to business for real, and it is obvious that Alonso is locked, loaded and ready to go and play his part in what everyone in Queens hopes to be a successful 2023 season.