7/21/17

Tom Brennan - METS MINORS SPOTLIGHT - PETER ALONSO


METS MINORS SPOTLIGHT - PETER ALONSO

Becoming a star in this game sometimes means catching some breaks.

For instance, with injuries to others, TJ Rivera gets to play regularly and shows every sign that he the real deal with a bat in his hands.

Some breaks you don't want: 2nd round 2016 selection, power hitting Peter Alonso, was off to a terrific start hitting-wise for a poor hitting Brooklyn Cyclones hitting squad when he broke a bone in a hand, ending his season prematurely.

This season in April, he gets another broken hand bone, and ended up with very few at bats in April and May, and with poor hitting in those games: 5 for 40, to be precise.

June rolled around, and the 6'3", 225 pound Alonso was back, in earnest, and the results from June 1 through July 20 have been really encouraging:

13 doubles, 10 HRs, and 34 RBIs in 40 games, hitting around .300 over that span.  12  homers in 51 games too.  Even better, 6 HRs in his last NINE games.  Who does he think he is?  Aaron Judge?  Well, with only 42 Ks in 51 games, he fans a lot less than the Judge not named Judy.

He actually had played 81 games through Thursday in his 2016-17 career.  So should we double his numbers to see what they'd look like over 162 games?  How about 50 doubles, 34 homers, and 118 RBIs?  Do I finally have your attention, dear reader?

Really terrific offensive numbers - we may truly have a power hitter headed to Queens by late 2019 or early 2020.

Maybe a GREAT power hitter.

Defensively, he looked like a Gold Glover in 2016: 27 games at 1B, no errors.

This year, 48 games at first base, 11 errors - not good.  His fielding in 2017 can be described perhaps as St Lucie Loosey Goosey.  Perhaps not - sounds ridiculous.

Let's watch the progress with the glove as we may watch a true star masher in the making developing right before us as we speak, so to speak.   Maybe he can switch to 3B, a position I understand he also played in college.  Dominic Smith can then scoop out Pete's throws to first.

But let's not forget:



TIM TEBOW:

After his magnificent first 17 games in St Lucie, Tim had 2 hitless games on July 15 and 16.  Was the incredible string of amazing luck ending?  No, because it is not luck.

He rebounded brilliantly since, leaving him at an amazing .320/.407/.520  in 23 games. Yes, and doing it in high A ball in his first pro season.  And just 14 Ks in those 23 games - wait, aren't 6'3", 255 pound guys supposed to fan a lot in their first season?  Can you recall any other Met prospect doing this well, this high up the food chain, in his first year?  Ever?  Not me, I can't.   SUPER GUPPY.

And if I may speculate a bit, I think I may've figured out his sudden success with St Lucie:

Look closely at the devout Christian's picture above and it looks like "S + L" on the hat, which could be an abbreviation for Savior and Lord, whom Tebow would claim to be the source of his success.  Better than any other reason I've heard so far for his unparalleled success and divine play.

For the first time, I wonder about a September call up to Queens for Tebow.  Yes, in 2017.

One concern with Mr. Tim Tebow: he can take the spotlight away from other developing prospects....such as Jhoan Urena, who after a fairly brief slump, is back to .300 with an OB% of around .400. 

Let's see Urena finish very strong & set his stage for 2018.

But this is about the two big boys...Pete and Timmy.   

1 comment:

Tom Brennan said...

No Pete mania - at least, not quite yet.

Saw a Tebow article, saying teams are raking in huge bucks wherever he plays, more so now that he is playing really well. One scout who saw him in the spring and now said Tebow's swing has improved a lot, with better leg involvement and hand action during swings.