Mets, swept by Rays, need Pete Alonso to start producing
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There are few things that Tampa native Pete Alonso enjoys more than playing across the bay from his hometown whenever the Mets visit Tropicana Field to face the Rays.
The dome was filled with Mets fans all weekend. But the Mets lost all three games, the last one Sunday’s horror-inducing 7-6, 10-inning disaster.
Alonso went 1-for-12 this weekend. He has that one hit in his last 29 at-bats. He is batting .206.
He has been flailing and failing in his contract year, and even though there are plenty of reasons the Mets fell to 16-18, Alonso accepts the responsibility that comes with being Pete Alonso.
He’s the beloved homegrown slugger who invented a profane version of “Let’s Go Mets” that plenty of fans wear proudly on T-shirts around Citi Field, and, it turns out, Tropicana Field, too.
The Mets lost on Sunday because Edwin Diaz allowed a tying home run by Randy Arozarena on a 3-and-2 pitch with two outs in the ninth. They lost because Harrison Bader came up short on a daring dive on Jonny DeLuca’s walk-off two-run triple to center off Jake Diekman in the 10th. They lost because they allowed seven more stolen bases in eight attempts to bring opponents to an astounding 52-for-55 against the Mets.
But as Alonso and manager Carlos Mendoza emphasized in the postgame clubhouse — which included a visit from president of baseball operations David Stearns — the Mets also lost because they went 4-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base.
Alonso, in going 0-for-5 with a strikeout, came up twice in the early innings with the bases loaded. He popped out the first time and grounded into an inning-ending double play the second.
“It’s just frustrating not being able to come through in those situations, especially bases loaded,” Alonso said. “It’s been a tough go, but I just wanted to keep continuing to play as hard as I can. I mean, I leave it all out there on the field every day, but it’s just frustrating. I wish I could come through, and if I had, we would have been on the winning side of things.”
Alonso is an RBI machine. Even last season, when he did his best Dave Kingman impression by batting a career-low .217, he hit 46 home runs and drove in 118.
This year? The power is on, as Alonso leads the Mets with eight homers. But he has only 16 RBIs, or one more than DJ Stewart in 72 more at-bats.
“He’s going through it right now,” Mendoza said. “He’s in between. It’s one of those where he’s passive with pitches in the zone that he can do damage with and then chasing. Trying to do probably too much right now.”
Is the contract status affecting Alonso? You’d be silly to think it is. He didn’t hire Scott Boras as his agent so he could go into his walk year worrying if he’s going to re-sign with the Mets. That will be taken care of in the offseason.
When Alonso tells you all he thinks about is mashing the baseball and winning games, you’d be right to believe him. That’s why this slump is eating at him — not because it could affect his future earnings but because he wants to produce for the 2024 New York Mets, a team and a fan base he truly loves.
“I need to be better,” he said. “I need to be better. All the work and stuff like that preparing for the game, no one really sees that, no one really cares about that. People care about performance, so it’s just frustrating not to be able to come through.
“I’m swinging at, for the most part, decent pitches and not making consistent hard contact. Haven’t been hitting [many] line drives. Been hitting a lot of pop-ups and ground balls but haven’t been hitting nice, crisp line drives. It’s frustrating. I’m doing the best I can, but again, no one really cares about trying. People care about results.”
The results for the Mets this weekend weren’t good. If that trend continues through the summer, the idea of the Mets trading Alonso for prospects is going to gain steam.
If that happens, it will be another dark day for Mets fans, both in Florida and New York.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
