Mets' Pete Alonso wants to win World Series, exceed 2019 statistics

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Last year, Pete Alonso mashed a bunch of homers, set a bunch of records and won a bunch of awards.

This year, he wants more.

“I want to be celebrating on a parade float drunk as hell,” Alonso said Saturday at Clover Park. “That's the goal. I want to be having good times with everyone, celebrating, holding up the trophy.”

That is how Alonso began his second season in the majors, with a grand declaration that “there’s one goal, and that's to win a World Series.”

His rookie year was historic — most notably, he hit 53 homers — but for as much as he accomplished and as much as was written and said about him, his arrival at Mets camp offered new context on the impressiveness of his rise in 2019.

This is Alonso’s first spring training as a player on the 40-man roster.

“It's pretty nice,” he said with a laugh. “Pretty nice.”

A year ago, Alonso was a top prospect and a mere non-roster invitee. He had to win the first-base job over Dominic Smith and others. On his first day, he said he wanted to “force someone’s hand” and “come in here and be the best option.” He talked big, then backed it up on the way to winning the National League Rookie of the Year Award and breaking Aaron Judge's MLB record for home runs by a rookie.

Now Alonso is far more established. But he does not intend to use that status to ease into spring training.

“I can't really take it easy,” Alonso said. “I want to be locked in. I want to be ready not just to play well, but I want to be ready to win. In order to get the most out of myself, I got to come with not just that same intensity but I have to be just as locked in, if not more.

“I want to keep pushing and get better. I don't want to feel complacent or comfortable. I had a really good year last year, but I want to be better. I want to see how far I can push myself, because if you keep searching for new limits, you never know what could happen.”

Manager Luis Rojas said he isn’t concerned about Alonso putting too much pressure on himself to try to top what he did last year — a trap that Jacob deGrom admits, in hindsight, he fell into in April 2019 when he was coming off his first Cy Young Award-winning season.

Hitting coach Chili Davis, who played in the majors for 19 seasons, already has spoken with Alonso about that dynamic, according to Rojas.

“I know he got himself ready in the way he always does,” Rojas said. “I don’t think that he’s going to put in his mind that he has to beat what he did last year. He’s just going to go out there and give it his best every day.”

Added Alonso, who believes he can “absolutely” top what he accomplished in 2019: “For me to do that, I have to stay within myself, I have to concentrate on the details. I believe I can. If I stay locked in, if I stay disciplined in the zone, don’t chase, don’t give in to the pitcher's plan, execute my plan, stay stingy on chasing pitches, I think I can.”

Aside from winning the World Series, Alonso mentioned one goal when it comes to what he wants to accomplish individually: win a Gold Glove. He was reputed to be a poor defender during his climb through the minors, but he played first base just fine last season. And he hasn’t forgotten what the naysayers thought.

“Winning a Gold Glove would probably mean the most to me,” Alonso said. “I work extremely hard in all aspects of my game. But just because so many people told me I couldn’t, that I was a bad defender, so many people counted me out on that, so just to win that and throw it in their face would be awesome.”