New York Mets: Pete Alonso working hard to live up to the hype

The New York Mets’ top prospect, Pete Alonso, has been a thrill to watch in Spring Training so far. But, it seems like the ballplayer is working hard on every aspect of his game.

It seems like every single year the New York Mets have prospects that fans are excited about, but the pizzaz that Pete Alonso brings is like no other. Alonso could be the slugger the Mets need to get over the hump on offense. If his career becomes what is expected, he could be better than Lucas Duda.

However, there are always cons to the pros. A big issue with Alonso, and this is well documented, is his glove. He took Vegas by storm last season with his bat, in particular his power, but a long used excuse  to not call him up was because of his defense.

Even two games into Spring Training we got a glimpse of his potential glove issues when he couldn’t corral a ground ball thrown back his way. He, in a way, saved an error in the very first game, but it definitely is alarming for someone who is going to have to explain any little mishap defensively while he is down in Florida.

However, there is great news. Those closest to the team seem to think Alonso is working hard on his glove and trying to become the best player he can.

These are all things that are incredibly encouraging to see. We have seen Mets top prospects being called up or be dubbed the next this or that, but with Alonso it feels different. Maybe that is what the Mets wanted. Last season, there seemed to be plenty of days when the Mets could have called Alonso up to the majors to see what he had.

However, the Mets never budged. Last season Adrian Gonzalez played first base for the Mets for a while. Then the forever waiting to breakout Dominic Smith logged some reps there too. So, that position has been torture for the Mets and their fans since the aforementioned Duda showed he was not the guy there. He had a solid Mets career, but he is gone now.

So, the Mets will likely start the season with Todd Frazier at first. But, the thrill behind Alonso is second to none. The hype around Amed Rosario was thrilling, but he came up in the middle of a terrible 2017 season. So, he was called up when Mets fans needed it, Alonso was not last season in a similar situation.

Overall, we know Alonso is going to be a fine hitter. His Spring is off to an electric start. He hit a home run already. He also has 59 career home runs in the minor leagues, across multiple levels of it. So, that does not seem like it will be an issue.

While I understand that all MLB players work hard to fix their flaws and play at the big league level, these tweets are a great example of Alonso being incredibly motivated and working super hard to live up to this kind of potential. He is someone to keep an eye because of the way he has been carrying himself, especially this early into Spring.

Pete, and it is going to take me a while to get to use to not adding the “r,” is going to be the player to watch this Spring Training. Aside from a few mini roster/depth battles, we know what we have in the Mets team. After all, we already know the five starting pitchers.

So, while I know it is wiser to take these prospects with a pinch of salt because there is just no way of knowing if it will ever work out with them in baseball, I am going to go ahead and give myself the green light in being excited about Alonso.

He has survived multiple purges by the Mets, multiple general managers, and is likely going to be on the Mets as soon as they wouldn’t lose that extra year of control. He is going to be a difference maker for the Mets, one of the core pieces of the future. I can’t wait to see when and how all this works pays off. He clearly wants the darn first base job.

Who says Spring Training doesn’t count?