With New York Mets prospect Peter Alonso having a great start at Double-A Binghamton, he has a shot to be the first baseman of the future in Flushing.
As the New York Mets continue to struggle at the major league level, one of their top prospects is off to an impressive start to his 2018 season. First baseman Peter Alonso has a slash line of .393/.490/.762 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs for the Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies.
Due to his great start to the season, Alonso was named as the Player of the Month for the Eastern League. The Mets selected the 23-year-old in the second round out of the University of Florida back in 2016. Last season, he showed off his power when he had 18 home runs in 93 games between Binghamton and High-A St. Lucie.
In addition to Alonso’s great power numbers, he does an incredible job of staying disciplined at the plate. He has 16 walks, which is tied for the most in the EL, while only striking out 18 times. For an era of baseball that has been mainly defined by home run or strikeout numbers, it is good to see a power hitter have that much plate discipline so early in his career.
23 games is a small sample size, but Alonso has recorded a hit in all but three games this year. He has driven in two runs or more on seven different occasions and he has hit a home run in five of his last seven games.
While Alonso has been impressive on the field, that could only be matched by his mentality to the game off the field. On Thursday, he wrote a column in Sporting News about how he approaches the game with a mindset of a gladiator:
“Ballplayers and gladiators train and compete tirelessly to get to the highest level, but only the elite few get there. Every time I take the field, it’s personal. My livelihood is on the line every day. This is how I’m going to feed my family one day. No one is going to take this away from me. It’s either going to be me or you; and it ain’t going to be me.
I am going to win the day. When the days add up, I will look up and be at my Rome — Citi Field.”
Since Dominic Smith had a rough spring training with showing up late to the team’s first game and had a .198 average in 49 games at the big league level last year, some have questioned whether he is the first baseman of the future or just another has-been. The fact of the matter is that the Mets need help at first base sooner rather than later.
If you look at the early numbers from this season, all of the Mets first basemen have hit .228 with five home runs and 20 RBIs. Plus, their .291 on-base percentage is the third fewest in the National League (Cubs and Rockies are the bottom two teams). That is with a combination of Adrian Gonzalez and Wilmer Flores.
While Alonso might not be ready for the major leagues just yet, he is definitely making a good impression in just his second full season in the bigs. After getting an invite to spring training this season, it is clear that he is on the New York Mets radar going forward and rightfully so.
All stats are as of Thursday May 3.
