Players of the Month: Pete Alonso, Trevor Williams Keep Mets Cruising

Believe it or not, May is already over. Baseball season just keeps rolling right along and so do the New York Mets. Buck Showalter’s boys continued their terrific start to the season and remain atop the National League East.

The Mets posted an 18-10 record during the month of May to improve to 34-17 on the year. From the doubleheader sweep of the Braves to some incredible come-from-behind wins, this was another entertaining month of Mets baseball.

The injury bug struck a little bit but as has been the case all season long with this team, the next man stepped up. The depth has been huge and the Mets are rolling along right into a very challenging month of June.

Here are the players of the month for the month of May!

Hitter of the Month: Pete Alonso

There were many different options to choose from this month for the Mets’ hitter of the month. With the pitching staff taking a bit of a hit the big bats in this lineup stepped up when they needed to the most.

Jeff McNeil continued his scorching hot start, Starling Marte is looking more like himself, and Mark Canha continues to be the professional hitter he is. On top of that, Luis Guillorme has developed into an offensive juggernaut and Francisco Lindor has shown that superstar form.

This offense has been really fun to watch over the first two months of the season and they can never be counted out of a game. There were many notable standouts but perhaps one of the biggest performers for this group has been Pete Alonso.

The big man currently leads the league with 47 RBI and is tied for fourth with 13 home runs. Alonso has appeared in all 50 games to this point and is hitting .286 with a stellar .365 OBP, .899 OPS, 149 wRC+, and 1.4 WAR.

After getting off to a slow start to the season, Alonso was absolutely dialed in during the month of May. In 28 games he launched nine home runs and five doubles while posting a 1.009 OPS and .390 on-base percentage. The big man even added the sixth stolen base of his career.

Alonso became just the tenth Met in franchise history to drive in 30 runs in a single month and he set a franchise record by reaching the 45 RBI mark prior to Memorial Day.

Alonso recently told reporters including David Lennon of Newsday that he’s just trying to stay locked in at the plate regardless of the situation.

“I’ve had a lot of great opportunities thanks to my teammates. For me, if they’re on first base, they’re in scoring position with a double. Or myself, I’m in scoring position every time I go up there,” he said. 

Alonso has certainly been deserving of the MVP chants he’s been hearing at times at Citi Field. The Mets are going to need him to keep this stellar production up during this challenging month of June.

Pitcher of the Month: Trevor Williams

The Mets were hampered by the injury bug during the month of May losing some big pieces on their pitching staff in Tylor Megill, Max Scherzer, and Trevor May. With the three righties on the injured list, Buck Showalter had to turn to his depth to step up in both the bullpen and rotation.

Perhaps most impressive of the group was the effort put forward by Trevor Williams. The right-hander had one rough outing in Colorado but pitched really well otherwise.

Tuesday night against the Nationals was the first time he reached the fifth inning and he earned his first win. Williams allowed just three hits while walking two and striking out one over five shutout innings.

With that performance, he allowed just seven runs and struck out 22 batters in 24 innings of work during the month of May. Williams has now pitched 27.2 innings on the season and has a 3.58 ERA and 1.19 WHIP while striking out 23 batters.

Since being acquired from the Cubs at last season’s trading deadline, Williams has posted a 3.30 ERA. The veteran righty has served as really solid depth in whatever role the Mets have needed him.

While I’m on the subject of pitching depth, I also have to mention how youngsters Stephen Nogosek and Colin Holderman have stepped up for the Mets bullpen. In a combined 18 innings of work, they’ve allowed just one run and have struck out 18 batters.

The bullpen certainly has had its ups and downs but they’ve gotten some big-time pitching performances from some unexpected pieces. The Mets will need that to continue into June and beyond.