Mets' Pete Alonso doesn't want to be a full-time designated hitter
Pete Alonso is congratulated by Mets teammates after second-inning home run against the Marlins at Citi Field on Thursday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
ATLANTA — Pete Alonso is "not at all" interested in being a full-time designated hitter, if that rule comes to the National League in 2022, but he is open to doing it occasionally, he said Friday.
"I'm a really good first baseman with potential to win a Gold Glove," he said before the Mets played Atlanta. "I would be selling myself short to label myself as that. If I need to DH maybe one day or if someone needs to rotate in, that's fine. But I'm a first baseman. I don't think I'll ever think of myself as a DH."
Alonso has expressed that sentiment, including his golden ambitions, previously. If this marking of his territory was different, it is because these may be the final games the Mets play without a DH. It is expected to become a permanent position across the majors next season, as part of a new collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the players’ union.
"As I continue to progress, I'm going to be able [to] not just win one Gold Glove, but I feel like I'm going to win multiple in my career," Alonso said. "This is only my third year. So I'm just going to keep getting better."
Manager Luis Rojas, who has managed Alonso since 2017, said Alonso rated as a "way below average" first baseman in the minors but he has progressed to "average."
"He’s gotten so much better," Rojas said. "Just because of how he works and his mentality toward this game, I think it’s just going to keep getting better. Pete is a first baseman."
Extra bases
During the teams’ series opener Friday, Kevin Pillar and Atlanta reliever Jacob Webb faced each other for the first time since Webb hit Pillar in the face with a pitch in May. They tipped their caps to each other as Pillar stepped to the plate. He struck out swinging at a changeup in the dirt, the seventh pitch of the at-bat . . . Carlos Carrasco will start Saturday night. Rojas had previously said it would be Trevor Williams . . . Alonso on Robinson Cano returning next year from a PED suspension: "I really admire Robby, because he really helped my development as a big-leaguer and also understanding how New York works."
