New York Mets: Peter Alonso may be a star in the making

With the New York Mets looking ahead into the future, we are doing the same by looking at potential future star Peter Alonso.

The future is what the New York Mets will be focused on during the second half of the season. Of course, the season is far from over but this team is unlikely to go on a miracle run. A promising start has become a disappointing finish, so the sights are set on 2019 and beyond.

So with the future in plain view, we decided to look into the Mets future as well. Everyone has heard about this mammoth home run hit during the All-Star Futures game this past weekend. The fact that it was hit by Mets product Peter Alonso makes it mean that much more.

Mets fans have been begging for a guy that can hit for a long time. Add the fact that he plays first base and that’s even better. To put it mildly, the position hasn’t been represented well lately. So today we take a deeper dive into Peter Alonso. Who is he? Where did he come from?

Peter Alonso played his college baseball at the University of Florida, playing with them in the College World Series in 2016. The Mets selected Alonso in the second round of the draft in 2016 with the 64th overall choice and assigned him to the Brooklyn Cyclones.

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In 27 games for Brooklyn, Alonso hit .321 with five homeruns and 21 RBI. He was also perfect in the field over 235 innings.

2017 saw Alonso spend most of the season with the advanced level A team in St. Lucie. After a rough first two months, he tore it up through the summer, hitting .275 in June, .336 in July and .312 in August. He hit 16 home runs and drove in 58.

In late August he was promoted to Double A Binghamton, in 11 games he hit .311 with two home runs and five RBI.

It was only a short stay at the higher level to that point for Alonso, but the point is he continued to produce. He also made only one error in 52 chances with Binghamton in 2017.

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2018 saw Alonso spend his longest stint in Binghamton, playing 65 games in Central New York. The production continued as he hit .314 with 15 homers and 52 RBI. He also posted his best OBP with a .440 mark.

Heading into the season the Mets were looking ahead to fill the first base position, but they were paying more attention to Dominic Smith than this guy. However, his .193 average of his first two seasons haven’t impressed anybody. Alonso is a guy that is more prepared than Smith and it really isn’t close.

Alonso was called up to play for the Las Vegas 51’s in June and has hit .182, but hit six home runs and 23 RBI. Granted, the average isn’t there but the power numbers are. First base is traditionally a power hitting position so he would fit right in.

The Mets should give Alonso a September call up. I understand the idea of not rushing him, but they should also give the fans something to look forward to. They need a reason to watch in September.

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