Photo by Wendell Cruz of USA Today
Pete Alonso was one of, if not the best Met at the plate all spring. Alonso had a very good batting line, which was .340/.421/.700 to go with four home runs and 16 RBIs and six doubles. His hot hitting was in 18 games this Spring and it is a very encouraging sign following what some are calling a sophomore slump in 2020.
Alonso was not only been locked in at the plate, he was excellent on defense all Spring as well. Pete came into camp saying one of his goals was to win a Gold Glove, whereas many of you might know that has been one of the biggest knocks against him while developing his game in the minors. Alonso still has a way to go if he wants to turn into a gold glove first baseman, but his strides this early in his year three Spring look promising.
What Alonso did at the plate in Spring is great. He mashed some homers and has stayed short through the ball while down in the count lacing singles up the middle, but what is most important to me is the fact that he is not chasing pitches out of the strike zone. One of the hardest things to learn for a young player is your eye at the plate. Alonso has a lot of swing in miss in his game, but compliments that with his 50+ home run power potential. He laid off pitches this Spring that he had chased in 2020 and this will only make him better than he already is.
Why did Alonso struggle so much last season? There are multiple advanced stats you can look at describing what was different with his swing, what he needed to do better, and balls he chased outside of the strike zone, but my prediction was he was trying to do too much. Luis Rojas had an interview where he stated that as a reason why Pete had a down year last year. Granted, it is not easy to follow up what he did in his rookie campaign.
The addition of Francisco Lindor is obviously a huge move and the extension of Lindor for the next decade is going to be amazing, but one underrated value of Lindor is that he takes a lot of attention away from Pete Alonso. Alonso will benefit from this and can continue to learn and grow without feeling like he has to do everything and overthink. Nonetheless, Alonso can build off a tremendous Spring to make all the talk of a sophomore slump a thing of the past.
