The New York Mets have been one of the best teams in the majors since the start of June, but vibes took a bit of a hit this past weekend when they lost two of three to a subpar Los Angeles Angels team.
All three games of that series were winnable, yet the Mets did themselves in by failing to come up big in most of their many clutch situations. A major culprit of that was Pete Alonso who continued his season-long struggles with runners in scoring position that entire weekend.
With the Mets badly needing a spark, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza shook up the lineup, dropping Alonso to fifth in the order. That was the first time he had hit below fourth since 2020. The change worked, and the Mets came away with a crucial 6-0 win. The story of that game wasn’t the lineup change or even the dominance Sean Manaea displayed, though. It was what Alonso said pregame.
"I'm on pace for close to 40 homers, I was an All-Star this year, to beat myself up or be frustrated – it's really no use. I'm really excited for the end of the year where we get to play winning baseball. I'm happy with what I've accomplished this year so far"
– Pete Alonso pic.twitter.com/plsLygR1Vd
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 5, 2024
When asked if he can identify why he’s had a down season relative to expectations, Alonso chose to pump himself up. Not only did he refuse to take any accountability in what has objectively been a down year, but what he used to defend his production was either inaccurate or questionable at best.
Pete Alonso’s frustrating season reaches new heights with his refusal to take accountability
Alonso chose to defend his production by saying he’s on pace for close to 40 home runs and he was an All-Star.
Saying he’s on pace for close to 40 home runs is unequivocally false. As of this writing, Alonso is on pace for 33 home runs. 40 home runs isn’t out of the question if he can get hot, but saying that he is on pace for 40 is inaccurate.
As for the All-Star argument, that one’s questionable at best. It appeared as if Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo had put up better first halves than Alonso, but Alonso was the lone Mets representative in the All-Star Game. Alonso might’ve been chosen because he had said in the past that he’d only participate in the Home Run Derby if he was selected as an All-Star. MLB wanted him in the Derby in a year many high-end participants declined invitations, so that’s why Alonso was named an All-Star. Whether that’s true or not is up to MLB to answer.
When looking at what Alonso has done in his six-year career, this has objectively been Alonso’s worst season. He enters Tuesday’s action slashing .241/.326/.464 with 23 home runs and 69 RBI in 112 games. A solid season, but not Alonso-esque. His .790 OPS is a career low. If he were to hit 33 home runs, that’d be a career low in a 162-game season. There’s a chance Alonso finishes with below 90 RBI for the first time in a 162-game season as well.
What’s been most frustrating about Alonso’s season, though, isn’t even the smaller home run total. It’s the fact that he has not been producing in the clutch. Alonso leads the majors in RBI since he debuted back in 2019, but is slashing .198/.331/.359 with four home runs and 33 RBI with runners in scoring position this season. He has been hitting cleanup for most of the season, behind awesome table setters like Lindor and Nimmo, yet has not been driving them in nearly enough. He was moved down in the order for a reason.
Alonso hasn’t been a bad player this season by any means, but he has not met his lofty standards, or really come all that close. Refusing to take accountability for that, and going out of his way to spin his down year into a positive while his team needs him to step it up as they attempt to make the postseason is a bad look for Alonso, a player who is set to hit free agency in a matter of months.
All Alonso had to do here was say that all he cares about is winning and that he’s doing his best. Refusing to take accountability in what can only be described as a down year while he has struggled in the midst of a playoff race was not the right way to go, especially when looking at the talking points he chose to pump himself up.
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