Players of the Month: Alonso, DeGrom Lead the Way

The New York Mets, winning, and June baseball have not fared well together over the past several seasons.

In 2021, the Mets changed that narrative- at least enough to remain in first place throughout the entire month.

After a 15-15 month which saw the team play multiple doubleheaders, the Mets enter July still in control of the NL East – although their division lead has shrunk to 2.0 games.

While the beginning of 2021 saw the Mets deal with injury after injury, June brought hope for the team. Most of their starting lineup returned from the IL, as the Opening Day roster began to get pieced together once again.

Leading the charge in June were two players who Met fans hope will be faces of the franchise for years to come.

Hitter of the Month: Pete Alonso

Before diving into “Polar Bear” Pete’s impressive June at the plate, the month brought additional good news for the former NL Rookie of the Year:

Alonso will compete in his second Home Run Derby, on Monday, July 12 at Coors Field in Denver.

After missing the latter half of May with a hand injury, Alonso once again became a mainstay in the Mets lineup in June. Across 29 games, the slugger hit .293/.366/..495 with 6 home runs, 17 runs batted in, and 9 walks.

None of his home runs gave the Mets the lead in a late inning, close game situation. But keep in mind that the Mets offense has remained in a drought (they have the second lowest slugging percentage in the NL, ahead of Pittsburgh), so the fact that Alonso put up these impressive numbers while the team largely struggled is nothing short of spectacular.

This season, Alonso has slashed .264/.350/.472 with 13 home runs and 40 runs batted in (both his HR and RBI totals lead the team this season). His 131 OPS+ is 21 points higher than the next closest player. (Jonathan Villar, 110 OPS+)

In a month when the Mets were shutout five times, the offense didn’t have many bright spots. Alonso did his best to change that narrative as he has become a mainstay in the middle of the team’s lineup again.

Look for the offense to return to a more productive level in July, as both Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto have already recently returned from the IL, and a handful of others including on-base machine Brandon Nimmo are on the way.

And don’t forget to tune in to the Home Run Derby later this month as Alonso aims to defend his title of derby champion.

Honorable Mentions: Francisco Lindor, Dominic Smith, Kevin Pillar 

Pitcher of the Month: Jacob deGrom

Jacob deGrom is not only in the midst of one of the greatest ever seasons by a New York Met. He’s not only dominating hitters more than any other pitcher in major league history.

As he enters July with a 0.69 ERA, deGrom is three months through one of the greatest individual seasons by an athlete in the history of professional sports. 

In June, deGrom pitched 27.0 innings across a total of five starts. For those first four outings (21.0 innings), he allowed zero runs and only five hits and three walks! By the end of the month, deGrom’s June ERA sat at 0.67.

His last start of the month may be most telling to deGrom’s greatness. After allowing 3 hits and 2 runs in 6.0 innings of work, this was arguably his worst start of the season.

Worst start of the season being a quality start and *raising* his season ERA from 0.50 to 0.69? That’s how you know his greatness is so expected at this point.

deGrom’s best start in June occured in his June 5th matchup vs. the high-powered San Diego Padres. In that game, the Cy-Young favorite pitched 7.0 innings of almost flawless baseball, allowing just three hits, while walking one and striking out eleven. The Mets went on to win the game 4-0.

The only negative in regards to deGrom this month was an injury scare. After leaving his June 16th start after only 3.0 innings (albeit 3.0 perfect innings), the team announced their ace was dealing with right flexor tendinitis. However, since that news, he has yet to miss a scheduled start.

That being said, deGrom has also not pitched more than 6.0 innings since that first start of the month against the Padres. A major storyline for July will be whether deGrom’s innings continue to be limited, or if he’ll resume pitching into the late innings again.

Yes, this is “Pitcher of the Month”, but this section would be incomplete without mentioning deGrom’s excellence at the plate as well. In June, deGrom recorded three hits (all singles) in nine at-bats. On the season, he’s batting a ridiculous .414/.414/.448, which should even play a small factor in his NL MVP candidacy.

The best player in Major League Baseball plays for the New York Mets – and his name is Jacob deGrom.

Honorable Mentions: Marcus Stroman, Taijuan Walker