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Putting Peter Alonso’s Elite Season In Perspective

By Yehuda Schwartz

October 29, 2018 No comments

Photo by Jennifer Nieves, MMN

As you know all too well, first-base prospect Peter Alonso, 23, just finished one of the most impressive minor league seasons we have seen.It was the best by a Mets prospect in a very long time.  Between Double-A and Triple-A, he hit .285/.395/.579 with 31 doubles, a triple, 36 home runs, and 119 RBI.

Alonso’s great season led to speculation of a call-up to the majors.  Looking deeper into the numbers, Alonso’s numbers would look great when compared to other Major League players.  While it is an imperfect comparison, here is where Alonso’s season would rank if he had his numbers up for the Mets instead of the minor leagues:

OBP- Seventh ahead of Paul Goldschmidt and Jose Altuve

SLG- Fifth ahead of Nolan Arenado and Manny Machado

OPS- Fifth ahead of Alex Bregman and Freddie Freeman

HR- 12th ahead of Mookie Betts and Bryce Harper

RBI- Third ahead of Christian Yelich and Arenado

Extra Base Hits- First

What makes this truly outstanding is Alonso put his numbers up in just 574 plate appearances over 132 games played.  This puts into context just how elite his bat and power potential could be at the Major League level.

Based on the numbers, Alonso had a season similar to the one Brewers slugger Jesus Aguilar just had. The Brewers right-handed slugger compiled a slash line of .274/.352/.539 with 35 home runs, and 108 RBI.  What makes this comp a little more interesting is both players defense is not a strength, and they are both big middle of the order hitters.

Overall, Alonso had a really impressive season whether viewed through a minor league or major league prism.  His ability to get on base, hit for power, knock in runs, and hit in the clutch is rare and very special. He could be just as elite as Aguilar or even Goldschmidt.  The potential is there, and it is special, rare, elite, an very exciting to anticipate.