Ed Delany/Mets Minors

Since Peter Alonso was drafted by the Mets, he has mashed at the plate.  In consecutive seasons, he was named post-season All Stars on the strength of that bat.  His bat was the reason why he was originally drafted, and it was the reason why he was called-up to Binghamton to serve as the DH for a team that was making a postseason push.

The power has led to him advancing rather quickly through the Mets farm system, but it only going to take him so far.  As a result, the team brought him to the Instructional Leagues to work on his defense.  As Mets Farm Director Ian Levin put it, “He has some work to do with his defense. We brought him in to make some strides in that area.”  (MiLB.com).

Alonso really does need to make some strides defensively.  This season, Alonso made 19 errors at first base in 729.1 innings for a quite low .971 fielding percentage for the position.  His 18 errors were the third most in the entire Mets farm system and tops among first baseman.  In fact, he was the only Mets first baseman in the entire system with double digit errors.  In the Eastern League, he was statistically the worst defensive first baseman leading the league in errors at the position and having the worst fielding percentage.

Accordingly, if Alonso is going to continue his upward trajectory, he is going to have to capably handle first base.  That goes double when you consider the Mets are a National League team that does not have the DH at their disposal.

Fortunately, Alonso recognizes this is an area where he has to improve, and early reports of his efforts are positive.  Certainly, the Mets seem to be happy with the effort with Levin saying, “He’s put in a good amount of effort and he’s totally on board. His bat has the chance to be impactful, and we want to make sure he’s ready for that so he can live up to that.”