PHOENIX — So, how do you like me now?
All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso had every reason to spend his winter bitter and frustrated, telling the New York Mets to stick it where the sun don’t shine.
Instead, he’s told everyone how elated he is to be back with the Mets and after showing the baseball world just what he’s capable of doing these first six weeks, hopes to not hear about his age again until he starts drawing social security checks.
“Honestly, why I would be angry?’’ Alonso told USA TODAY Sports. “For me, this organization has believed in me since I was a 21-year-old kid. They’re the team that drafted me. They’re the team that called me up. They didn’t trade me. So that means – I think – that they like me.’
It just took a private meeting before spring training in Tampa between Alonso, owner Steve Cohen and David Stearns, president of baseball operations, to express their true feelings about one another. Alonso didn’t get the long-term deal he wanted, but settled on a two-year, $54 million contract that he can walk away from after this season
“This is a great group, with a great culture and great people,’ Alonso said. “I’ve made a lot of great relationships here, with the fans, the coaches, my teammates, the security guards, the clubhouse managers, everything. It’s very special. So that weighed in my decision a lot to come back.
“I get to play with a winning team that had such an amazing postseason last year. You could see all of the promise that we had. We had a lot of good momentum. I didn’t want to leave that. So, for me, the biggest priority is playing for a winning organization.
“And there’s no bigger stage than New York.’
While Alonso eventually signed that deal 24 hours after their private meeting, Alonso’s perspective on free agency was different with his hometown of Tampa hit by Hurricanes Helene and Milton, with Alonso and his wife forced to move out of their home with the flood damage.
“The free agency stuff became secondary,’ he said, “because there were so many personal things in the offseason. I knew I didn’t have my best season, but I still knew I was going to be playing baseball somewhere. I just had to be patient.’
If Alonso has his druthers, he’ll never have to endure another free agency again after this winter, spending the rest of his career in a Mets uniform.
That feeling should be mutual.
Alonso, after winning the NL Player of the Month in April, entered Saturday hitting .324 and leading the NL with a .443 on-base percentage. He has nine home runs and was tied for the MLB lead with 34 RBIs and 24 extra-base hits. Alonso has an OPS+ of 205, and has already produced a higher WAR (2.2) than he accumulated all of last season (2.1), according to FanGraphs.
He doesn’t look anything like the guy who hit .240 last season with a career-low 34 homers, 88 RBIs and 172 strikeouts, a career-worst 24.7% clip. He is chasing and missing less than at any time in his career, with the best strikeout (17.8%) and walk rates (14.9%) of his career. He’s laying off the inside pitches that he had trouble handling, and punishing pitches in the strike zone. It doesn’t even matter if he falls behind in the count, hitting eight of his nine homers with two strikes.
Alonso’s spectacular start is challenging the narrative that first basemen in their 30s lose their power production.
“Stop looking at first basemen 30 or older and believing they’re in their decline,’ Scott Boras, Alonso’s agent, tells USA TODAY Sports. “The truth is that they still can be very valuable, and there are only five or six people [first basemen in their 30s] who can do what Pete is doing.
“These guys are a rarity hitting in the middle of their lineup. I think the greatest metric in sports is M.V.: Managerial Value. When a manager puts you in the middle of the lineup all season, that tells you the value of the player. He gives you the best chance of winning. And Pete is doing that in New York.
“You’re looking at an elite talent.’
You don’t have to look any further than Los Angeles Dodgers All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman for proof that turning 30 isn’t a career death sentence. Freeman will turn 36 in September, and is enjoying his best years since turning 30, slashing .311/.401/.536 since 2019, averaging 29 homers and 99 RBIs in those full seasons. He has made the All-Star team every year since turning 30, finished in the top 10 in MVP voting all but one season, and won two World Series championships.
“I’m glad people can look at me and see that you can still do it later on,’ Freeman said, “but in my mind, age is just a number. I think if you take care of yourself, it doesn’t matter what your age is. I hope the age [narrative] gets thrown out the window because if you’re a good baseball player, you’re a good baseball player, it doesn’t matter what age you are.’
Certainly, if Alonso continues at this pace, he won’t be sitting around waiting for the phone to ring all winter.
Alonso, who has hit more home runs than any player since his rookie season in 2019 except Yankees great Aaron Judge, has always had power. Now he’s performing like a guy who could be holding an MVP trophy in November, too.
“He can hit any pitch in any location right now,’ Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “It’s fun to watch. Now, he looks almost like a high average hitter that has a lot of pop, whereas before he was a power hitter. He looks fantastic. His work ethic has been outstanding.
“He’s always been focused, I just feel like he’s hit a point in his life where I think he truly understands his full body and his mechanics, the way he controls the strike zone. He knows he can hit any pitch at any given time, but he’s staying patient. He’s trying to do damage every single at-bat and dominate.’
Alonso, who also picks balls at first base as well as anyone in the game according to Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, shrugs his broad shoulders, as if he’s surprised that everyone else is surprised.
“I’m in my mechanics consistently,” said Alonso, who is hitting to the opposite field 27.5% of the time. ‘I have good body control right now and if something is not right, I can kind of flush that and adjust to the next pitch to where I feel like I’m back in it. My pitch-to-pitch adjustments have been really, really good. I just feel really, really comfortable.
“I’m not perfect, but I just feel like I am myself.’
Boras believes there’s another huge factor to Alonso’s success, and that’s the acquisition of $765 million man Juan Soto. While Alonso may be the one protecting Soto in the batting order, Soto is the one helping Alonso by simply being on base. Soto and Lindor have been on base 132 times already this season, with Alonso’s eyes lighting up every time. Alonso is hitting .343 with a 1.189 OPS with runners on base this season, and .400 with a 1.397 OPS with runners in scoring position.
“We talked a lot about what the tandem of Soto/Alonso would do, and frankly, what the Lindor, Soto, Alonso would do at the top of the order,’ said Boras, with Soto reaching base 295 times last season while playing with the Yankees. “We said, ‘My God, this tandem is phenomenal.’ We knew that Juan’s on-base acumen was just starting to take off, and having him on base would optimize Pete. Soto has increased the frequency of having a runner on base, and Pete has taken advantage of it.
“The combination is nitro.’
The Mets have ridden the best start of Alonso’s career to first place in the NL East, and don’t want to even think about how life would be without him.
“I am so happy he’s here,’ Lindor said. “He’s one of the best power hitters in the game. Hopefully, he stays with us for awhile.’
The Mets were prepared to go on with their life without him over the winter. Now, after seeing him carry the team these first six weeks, the idea of being without him might be terrifying.
“For Pete, it’s really all about winning and his performance,’ Boras said. “Right now, he’s in the right place at the right time.’
Around the basepaths
– The Boston Red Sox are performing their own version of ‘Cool Hand Luke’ these days: “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.’
While MLB executives believe Boston Red Sox GM Craig Breslow has done a rotten job in his communication with Rafael Devers trying to persuade him to move to first base (after already moving him from third base to DH), Devers doesn’t look great for his unwillingness to do so.
Aaron Judge moved to center field for Juan Soto. Bryce Harper moved to first base. MVPs Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Cabrera switched positions, as did Hall of Famer Chipper Jones and future Hall of Famer Jose Altuve, just to name a few.
The next step could be Devers formally requesting a trade, which likely would not be strongly considered until the offseason.
– The Chicago White Sox finally are starting to get some inquiries on center fielder Luis Robert with the New York Mets recently among the teams checking in and showing interest. The White Sox are eying 23-year-old Mets starting prospect Blake Tidwell as part of a package in return.
– The Los Angeles Dodgers plan to jump into the free-agent fray for Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker this winter. They may not be the high bidder, but they’ll surely keep everyone honest just as they did when they were in the Juan Soto sweepstakes.
– Several contending teams have already begun sending their scouts on the road to scour the market for potential available relief pitchers. It will be a seller’s market with so few high-quality relievers available this year.
– The St. Louis Cardinals are not receiving any interest in third baseman Nolan Arenado after he rejected trades this winter to the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Angels.
– You think the Dodgers have plenty of money?
They are the first team to use two planes on all of their road trips – one that is restricted only to the players – costing the team a minimum of at least $6 million.
– The Pittsburgh Pirates, according to information received by the players union and confirmed by several owners, are one of the most profitable teams in all of baseball, stashing a huge chunk of their revenue sharing monies instead of investing in their team year after year.
– The Dodgers are holding back Shohei Ohtani from pitching until after the All-Star break believing there’s no sense in hurrying him to the mound while he continues to put up MVP numbers at the plate.
“Between him and Barry Bonds, they’re the two best players I’ve ever seen,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says. “I played with Barry. But what Shohei does in the clutch, I’ve never seen anything like what he does in the clutch.”
– Dodgers rookie Rōki Sasaki’s electric fastball still hasn’t shown up since coming from Japan this season.
His 94 to 96-mph fastball was so pedestrian in his last start that he faced 20 batters and didn’t generate a single swing-and-miss and didn’t strike out a single batter. He’s yielding a 4.72 ERA.
– The Chicago Cubs made a “Dewey Beats Truman’ faux pas when they announced on their iconic stadium marquee that the new Pope is a Cubs fan – until his brother confessed that Pope Leo XIV is a White Sox fan. He was in attendance at Game 1 of the 2005 World Series, showing up momentarily on the broadcast.
“Family always knows best, and it sounds like Pope Leo XIV’s lifelong fandom falls a little closer to 35th and Shields,” the White Sox said in a statement. “Some things are bigger than baseball, and in this case, we’re glad to have a White Sox fan represented at the Vatican.”
It was only fitting then that the Pope’s first full day on the job at the Vatican that the White Sox not only won, but so did the Cardinals.
– If it wasn’t embarrassing enough that the White Sox set a record with 121 losses last season, that record could be easily toppled this year with the Colorado Rockies (6-33) now off to the worst start in baseball history. Even before Saturday’s 21-0 loss to San Diego, the Rockies had lost seven straight games, while coughing up 34 runs and making eight errors in their three previous games.
Considering the Rockies play in the punishing NL West, is there any doubt that the record could easily go down?
“We’re playing a bad brand of baseball, all the way around,’ Rockies starter Kyle Freeland, a Colorado native, told reporters. “Pitching, fielding, hitting. It’s bad.”
The Rockies are currently on pace to go 25-137.
– With the way official scoring has become at ballparks, Tony Gwynn would be hitting .450 and Ozzie Smith wouldn’t have made a single error. Everything is ruled a hit!
– Diamondbacks bench coach Jeff Bannister, who spent his entire career with the Pittsburgh Pirates until becoming the Rangers manager, is thrilled for Pittsburgh native Don Kelly becoming the Pirates’ new manager after the firing of Derek Shelton.
“I couldn’t be happier for Donnie to see him wearing that uniform,’ Bannister told USA TODAY Sports. “I know what this means to him. He’s a Pittsburgh guy, through and through, with a lot of ties there. He’s been a grinder his entire career with that smart baseball intellect, and he has that Jim Leyland lineage too.
“You know what I think of that that place. Those fans deserve a winning baseball team. They deserve an opportunity to have a team that is going to give them to eventually breaking through and win a championship. That’s such a tremendous sports town.’’
Kelly, who grew up in Mt. Lebanon, actually remembers trick-or-treating at Leyland’s house growing up.
“That’s why we went there,’ Kelly said at his introductory press conference. “They gave out the big candy bars. No cigarettes.”
– It’s remarkable that the Dodgers have the best record in baseball considering their relievers have pitched the most innings in baseball (172) entering Saturday with their starters throwing the fewest (171).
They are the first team in history to use 11 starters before the month of May.
The Dodgers will try to shift the workload to the starting rotation with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Sasaki pitching on five days’ rest instead of six, and Tony Gonsolin becoming their first pitcher to go on four days’ rest.
– The Diamondbacks’ recent track record of signing front-line free agent starters has been nothing short of horrendous. They blew $85 million on Madison Bumgarner, $52.5 million on Jordan Montgomery, and now their four-year, $80 million contract with Eduardo Rodriguez has looked brutal.
He has made 18 starts since signing the deal in Dec. 2023, and has gone 4-7 with a 6.06 ERA, lasting just 90 ⅔ innings with a 1.58 WHIP.
– St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol quietly has done wonders with a team that’s supposed to be nothing more than a rebuild. The Cardinals entered Saturday with a winning record (20-19), just two games out of first place after winning six consecutive games.
– Yes, those are the Kansas City Royals who have won 16 of 18 games for the first time in 47 years.
– How atrocious has the Texas Rangers’ offense been this season?
They have already lost nine games allowing three or fewer runs, tied with the lowly White Sox for most losses.
– Detroit Tigers Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal somehow continues to get better and better. He took a perfect game into the sixth inning and struck out 12 batters in his last start, and he now has an insane 50-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his past six starts. It’s the best strikeout-to-walk ratio over six games in franchise history.
– The Tampa Bay Rays absolutely love their new digs at George Steinbrenner Field, believing they have the nicest clubhouse in baseball – but their home field has proven to be a nightmare, going just 10-16 at home. It’s the most home losses in baseball.
– Is there a better comeback story than the Detroit Tigers’ Javy Baez, whom fans wanted released in the offseason, only for him to embrace a position switch to center field, hitting.308 with an .812 OPS?
– The Diamondbacks have managed to score 10 runs in an inning against the Chicago Cubs and still lose. They scored eight unanswered runs against the Dodgers on Friday and still lost after giving up six runs in the ninth inning. And they lost a game in which Eugenio Suarez hit four home runs.
The D-backs are 234-3 in games they’ve scored at least 11 runs in franchise history, with two of those losses occurring this season.
– Can you imagine how bad the Orioles’ pitching staff would be if they didn’t sign 35-year-old Tomoyuki Sugano to a one-year, $13 million contract this winter. The early rookie-of-the-year favorite is 4-2 with a 2.72 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 46 ⅓ innings.
– Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy, who has heard plenty of fan abuse with his early-season struggles, echoed the thoughts of many players today who are being trashed on social media.
“People feel like they can say whatever they want to say, and they don’t realize who it’s hurting the most,’’ Muncy told the Athletic. “I signed up for this life. I understand that if you play bad, they’re going to have opinions. And it’s warranted. But when you’re hearing from your family about certain things that are being said to them, that’s when it gets tough for me.”
– The Detroit Tigers, who have not won the World Series since 1984, may be the best team in the American League. They were 34-19 in August and September (.641 winning percentage) last year, and are even better the start of this season with their 26-13 record (.667).
– Scouts have raved about the improvement of Diamondbacks All-Star right fielder Corbin Carroll’s arm. It used to be the biggest flaw in his game. Now, it has become a strength, perhaps making him the game’s best all-around young player.
– Remember a year ago when the Brewers had 39 comeback victories while running away with the NL Central?
This season they’re 0-13 when their opponent scores first.
– The NL West race is shaping up as a doozy with three teams on pace to win at least 100 games this season, with the Dodgers, Padres and Giants separated by only two games, and the D-backs lurking.
“I think we’re the best division in baseball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says. “I don’t think anyone is gonna run away with it.”
– Remember when the San Diego Padres insisted that the Yankees must take center fielder Trent Grisham in the Juan Soto trade to save $5 million?
Well, look who has 10 homers (one more than last year), hitting .280 with a .987 OPS.
– Feat of the Week: LaTroy Hawkins, 52, who spent 20 years in the big leagues after being drafted by the Minnesota Twins out of high school in Gary, Ind., graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Southern New Hampshire University. He promised his grandmother he’d complete his education, and last week walked across the stage to proudly accept his diploma.
Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale
The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
