What they're saying about Florida Gators great Pete Alonso

Pete Alonso is off to arguably the best start of his career.

He was tied for the majors’ lead in home runs with 10 entering Sunday’s games. He also was third in RBI (23). Additionally, his batting average (.279) is significantly ahead of his lifetime numbers. Same for his on-base, slugging and OPS.

Behind his play, the Mets were 14-8 and only a half-game out of first.

Right now, Alonso is the talk of New York.

Here’s what they’re saying about the former Florida Gators star slugger …

*”Great players have the innate ability to be able to drag their team through adversity. Alonso is doing that for the New York Mets right now. He may also be the most consistent and the most potent hitter in all of baseball.

While Alonso became the first player in Mets history to hit at least 40 homers in two different seasons – 53 in his rookie year in 2019 and 40 in 2022 – it is the way in which the masher is approaching his at-bats in 2023 that seems to be making all the difference. He has found a way to harness the power that has always been there and take it to the next level. Alonso’s Home Run Percentage has dramatically risen to 10.8% through 21 games, and he ranks in the 91st percentile for Max Exit Velocity, the 92nd percentile in Barrel %, the 96th percentile in xBA, and the 99th percentile in xSLG and xwOBA.

It is also worth noting that Alonso now has the same amount of home runs as the Cleveland Guardians do as a team combined, and more than the Washington Nationals have hit this year as a collective unit (9). That’s pretty damn impressive. Alonso has more home runs now than he did at this stage of his rookie year where he hit 53 homers.” — METSMERIZED.COM

Alonso is in great shape — and it’s paying off

*”Alonso lost some weight in the offseason, which has helped with the baserunning, but he has become more discerning with his pitch selection as well. He hit two home runs in two nights against the San Francisco Giants and has driven in eight runs over that span.

The 2019 NL Rookie of the Year isn’t chasing pitches out of the zone as much and he’s laying off some of the pitches on the corner. Showalter has lauded his ability to take his emotions out of his at-bat and instead take a more analytical approach to them.” — NY DAILY NEWS

*”Pete Alonso took it personally last October when the Mets were eliminated from the postseason with a loss to the Padres in the NL wild-card series.

Alonso says he took a “deep dive” during the offseason into examining where he could improve. 

The results have followed through the first three weeks of the regular season.

Alonso entered Friday night’s game against the Giants tied for the major league lead with nine homers.

He owned a 1.024 OPS, and by at least one metric, he’s so far been among the game’s best first basemen defensively.” — NY POST

He has already set one Mets record this month

*”There has been no stopping Pete Alonso in the opening month of the season.

It has not mattered the opponent or the setting, Alonso has tormented opposing pitching at every turn.

That continued on Friday night as Alonso ripped his 10th home run of the season off the Giants’ Anthony DeSclafani to straightaway center field in the top of the fifth inning.

Alonso’s long ball set a new Mets franchise record for home runs before May, with eight games still to play in the month. He surpassed John Buck, Carlos Delgado, Dave Kingman and Neil Walker, who each homered nine times before the end of April.” — NORTHJERSEY.COM

*”The Mets slugging first baseman has been the most consistent run producer in the game since making his debut back in 2019, leading all of MLB in both home runs (154) and RBIs (395).

Like his counterparts in the lineup, Alonso put together a fantastic 2022 campaign, helping lead the Mets to their 101-win season. Playing in all but two games, Alonso hit .271/.352/.518, with 40 home runs, 131 RBIs and a 143 wRC+. 

When looking over that production, there is no doubt that Alonso is the most important bat in the Mets lineup. Yet this offseason, he was the one guy who was not taken care of. 

The 28-year-old is two years aways from free agency, playing on a $14.5 million contract in his second year of arbitration. By circumstance, Alonso is the one Mets regular that is really pushing for a contract right now and if we learned anything from another borough last year, that can be one heck of a motivator.” — JUSTBASEBALL.COM