Pete Alonso skipping HR Derby shows how laser-focused Mets slugger is on winning
Pete Alonso of the Mets reacts after his seventh-inning double against Atlanta at Citi Field on June 26. Credit: Jim McIsaac
ATLANTA — This time, Pete Alonso was just an All-Star. And for the Tampa guy with the Polar Bear nickname, the larger-than-life persona known on the national stage as the burly, spotlight-munching slugging machine, he was fine being nothing more than one of the engines trying to motor these Mets to the playoffs.
Amid all the All-Star media day questions regarding favorite foods and red-carpet fits, I asked Alonso if it felt weird not being in the Home Run Derby, which he’d previously done five times and won twice. Alonso’s name had become synonymous with the Derby, and his monster blasts were must-see swings.
But on this trip to Atlanta, sitting at his corner booth inside the Coca-Cola Roxy theater, Alonso loved where he was at. And plainly put, this Polar Bear’s priority is maintaining his current vibe.
“It’s an event that I love and enjoy,” Alonso said. “But I think for me, I just want to be able to take the rest. There’s a really special feeling around this team, and this year I want to be the best version of myself. And I’ve never really had Monday as an off-day before, so I want to be able to conserve energy, recoup the best I can, so I can be the best version of myself, for my team, going into the second half.”
When I told Alonso the Derby looked way more exhausting than ordinary rounds of BP — just riding those adrenaline spikes — he said it wasn’t so much the swings as the entire process.
“Honestly, I feel great right now,” Alonso said. “Like overall in my game, and I really don’t want to change anything or do anything different.”
Who could blame him? Alonso’s already done more than his part for the event. While many of the game’s top home-run hitters routinely brush off the Derby (we are repeatedly denied an Aaron Judge-Shohei Ohtani dream showdown), Alonso took up the mantle year after year like it was his civic duty.
But this year, the second-half stakes have never been bigger for Alonso, maybe even greater than last year’s first career crack at free agency. Alonso’s subpar season was saved by his Wild-Card winning homer off former Brewer and current Yankees closer Devin Williams, but he still netted only a two-year, $54 million deal. He’s almost certainly opting out after this $30 million season, which was a record salary at the time for a first baseman.
Alonso should be in a vastly improved bargaining position on this go-round, for a number of reasons. He’s closing fast on Darryl Strawberry’s franchise record for homers — only five short of 252 — and Alonso has proven himself an integral piece to the Mets’ hopes for another deep October. He’s cooled some after a scorching start, but he still is hitting .280, nearly 10 points higher than his best season (.271 in 2022), with a .908 OPS that’s 50 points better than his career average, while playing in all 97 of the Mets' games.
Oh, and he has 21 homers, putting him on pace for 35 (odds are the streaky Alonso will get to 40). Maybe some segment of the Flushing faithful was prepared to move on from Alonso last winter after the Mets signed Juan Soto. But owner Steve Cohen understood the fans’ attachment to the homegrown first baseman, and if he felt compelled to reel him back in then, wait until Alonso passes Strawberry and has another shot at October immortality.
“The key thing to Pete is two things that always make teams better,” his agent, Scott Boras, told Newsday on Monday. “When you have something at a position that most teams don’t have and the fact that you have durability. When you look at the number of first basemen that have played just 120 games five years in a row, you’re going to be down to four guys. Then when you say who has 30-home-run power to go with that durability, you’re going to find out that a first baseman like that is like a No. 1 starter — we don’t have many of them.”
Boras also noted that Alonso, who has always been a studious hitter — to the extent that he scribbles copious observations into a notebook after every game — has further embraced analytics and biomechanics since the two teamed up, leading to the consistency he’s shown this season. Alonso may not appear the bookish type, but don’t confuse the Polar Bear might with a lack of baseball IQ.
“Pete’s like Clark Kent,” Boras said. “He runs around, wearing his basic suit, but intellectually, that’s the Superman that’s hidden. Ironically, it’s the reverse for him.”
In Alonso’s mind, free agency still feels far off. He’s too laser-focused on the business ahead in Flushing, and all that’s left to accomplish this season with the Mets. As for building himself back up again after a soul-shaking winter, Alonso doesn’t spend much time thinking about where he’s been. Alonso likes the place both he and the Mets are right now.
“I’m really pleased with my performance so far,” Alonso said. “But I want to finish out the season strong and help this team do incredible things. I want this to be a very historic year for the franchise.”
There’s no way Alonso is sitting on the sidelines for that.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
