Pete Alonso’s hot streak puts him on pace for 60 homers: ‘I just feel like I’m in a really good spot’
The Mets lost a very forgettable game Tuesday night at Wrigley Field but Pete Alonso’s 18th home run of the season shouldn’t be forgotten, if for no reason other than it set his pace for the season at 60.
The 2019 NL Rookie of the Year and the two-time All-Star continues to lead the league in homers and has hit seven of them at Wrigley Field in his career. This ties him with Mark McGwire and Prince Fielder for the second-most all-time in a hitter’s first 12 games at the friendly confines.
“I just think it’s a great place to play,” Alonso said Tuesday after the Mets fell 7-2 to the Chicago Cubs in the first game of a three-game series. “There’s a lot of history here. For me as a fan of the game, I think it’s a really cool place to play with a lot of history. It’s really an honor to be here and it’s a fun place to play.”
This echoes what he said last month about playing in Dodger Stadium, another historic park where he has continually put up big numbers.
But Alonso seems to be hitting dingers no matter where he plays. The ridiculous pace was even a little surprising to his manager, who hadn’t crunched the numbers himself but was informed of them Tuesday night.
“You try not to talk too much about it,” said manager Buck Showalter. “He’s making a lot of loud collisions. And he’s been pretty consistent. He’s had very few [light] stretches. That’s hard to do. He doesn’t let one day take him down a bad road.”
Alonso could go down a bad road if he looked at some of the numbers himself. He’s only hitting .230. But he’s leading the league in RBI with 43 and it’s the team stats that have always mattered more to him. The home runs are the result of him barreling the ball at an elite rate.
“I just feel like I’m in a really good spot,” Alonso said. “In control of my at-bats and just understanding what I can and can’t handle. I’m doing a really good job of capitalizing on stuff in my zone and if it’s not there, I’m not swinging.”
Alonso has hit one out of the park in five of his last seven games. More than that, he’s an emotional leader for the Mets. The team has been especially streaky this season with extremely high highs — like taking two of three from the league-leading Tampa Bay Rays — and very low lows — getting swept by the lowly Detroit Tigers. Alonso has been a consistent force for the Mets on the field and one of the players who helps keep it together off of it as well.
When asked how to keep the Mets from entering into a downward spiral a few weeks ago, shortstop Francisco Lindor said he would keep passing the mic to Alonso on the bus. He brings comedic levity and confidence in knowing the Mets can overcome adversity.
Last season, Aaron Judge lit up New York and the entire sports world with 62 homers. If Alonso keeps this up, he’ll bring the same intrigue and attention to Queens.
“Every season is its own entity, but I do feel really, really good right now,” Alonso said. “I just need to stay right here where I’m at and just trying to stack as many good at-bats here as possible.”
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