Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Mets slugger Pete Alonso has been on one hell of a tear since the All-Star break and he’s showing no signs of slowing down as he continues to mash at a high level. He was at it again on Wednesday night as he hit another moon shot with the Mets beating the Nationals 9-5.

Alonso is having himself quite a year and he has stepped it up another level since the All-Star break. Heading into the All-Star Game, where the slugger failed to win a third consecutive Home Run Derby, he was hitting .265/.339/.517 with 24 home runs, 15 doubles, 50 runs scored, and 78 RBI.

Now, following the All-Star break, Alonso is currently slashing .375/.479/.800 with an impressive 1.279 OPS. He also has four homers, 10 runs scored, five doubles, and 10 RBI in his last 11 games coming out of the break. Furthermore, Alonso has struck out just five times and has walked seven.

Those numbers tell you that the two-time All-Star is playing some of his best baseball right now, and he looks at the peak of his powers whenever he’s at the plate. Pure power aside, which we’ll get to shortly, one impressive trait Alonso has shown both after the All-Star break and throughout the year is his ability to put balls in play and manufacture runs. He owns a stellar .479 on-base percentage since the All-Star break and he’s driven in 10 runs during that span too. While he’s known as one of the best power hitters in the game, Alonso has shown that he can hit for average too and he owned a 1.143 OPS with runners in scoring position heading into August.

He currently leads the National League in RBI with 88, and he’s second in the majors in that category behind New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who has 93 RBI. Put it simply; Alonso has developed into a true do-it-all hitter who can hit for average and get on base as well as being able to mash. And he’s been on a tear doing both since the All-Star break.

Let’s talk about that incredible power, though. Alonso has always been known as a pure power hitter since entering the majors in 2019 – where he hit 53 long balls as a rookie – but his ability to destroy a baseball has only grown in legend this year. His average exit velocity this season is at 90.7 and his 18.1 launch angle is a career-high. Furthermore, Alonso ranks in the top 6% of the majors in XSLG (.511) and in the top 5% of the majors in WOBA (.377).

Just look at Alonso’s 28th home run of the year against the Nats on Wednesday. He didn’t need hardly any follow-through to absolutely crush a bomb 411 feet to dead center. His power is just insane and he’s cemented his standing as being one of the best pure hitters in the game right now.

We also tend to judge great players on their ability to come up in the clutch, and Alonso has done that time and time again since the All-Star break. The Mets have had series against both the Padres and the Yankees post-All-Star Game, and the 27-year-old did damage against both. He hit a three-run homer with the Mets 1-0 down in the sixth inning against San Diego on July 24, a game the Mets would go on to win, and he also hit a huge homer in the first game against the Yankees days later in what proved to be a series sweep.

Alonso, who is batting .315 in games the Mets are behind this season – has been red out coming out of the All-Star break, and his ability to do it all – mash, get on base, put balls into play and come up in the clutch – has been the driving force behind the Mets being able to build on their lead atop the NL East. On pace to break the Mets’ RBI record of 124 (shared by both Mike Piazza and David Wright), Alonso is playing his best baseball at the most important time of the year.