Peter Alonso/Photo by Jennifer Nieves, MMN

Mets first base prospect Peter Alonso was the story of the Future’s Game with his majestic home run.  This isn’t hyperbole.  There was tweet after tweet and story after story written about his home run which set StatCast records for its 113 MPH exit velocity and 46 degree launch angle.  Put another way, people were looking for ways to adequately describe Alonso and his 415 foot blast:

Well, Team USA Manager and 19 year MLB veteran Torii Hunter might have just offered the best comparison for what Alonso not only did in that game but all season long.  Hunter invoked a slugger’s slugger when talking to Mark Feisand of MLB.com about the player and the at-bat:

That’s unbelievable power; I saw Mark McGwire hit like that. You rarely see guys in the Minor Leagues hit a ball like that; so high and so far.

Great at-bat, runner in scoring position, and he wanted to get that hit.  He dug deep and battled, fought off some tough pitches until he got the fastball he wanted.

When Alonso got that fastball, he hit the ball harder and further than StatCast had ever seen.  This has been par for the course for Alonso this year has he has hit 21 homers this season and 44 homers total in his professional career.

With Alonso continuing to develop like this, we should continue to see him receive high praise like being compared to McGwire.  As he continues on his current trajectory, he is going to get a chance to hit homers like this in the majors.  And who knows?  Years from now we may see another young player mash a homer in the Future’s Game, and we may be seeing former Major Leagues comparing that young slugger to Alonso.