Wednesday I outlined the historic pace at which Pete Alonso
is writing himself into the Mets record books.
I was amiss in not updating the article for his 22nd HR and
his now 49 RBIs as it was posted prior to the Tuesday doubleheader. What’s even more astounding is that he has
just 61 hits to go along with those 49 RBIs.
That suggests he could eclipse 100 RBIs while having fewer than 130
hits. That is an amazing feat of coming
up big when it counts most.
In the comment section following that article was a brief
discussion of the upcoming All-Star Game and the fact that despite everything
Alonso has accomplished, he’s nowhere near the top of the voting for that
position. Granted, people have a
tendency sometimes to vote based upon previous accomplishments. However, that would not explain the 2019
results which have the unlikely leader being Josh Bell of the Pirates.
Now, to be fair, Bell is having a terrific season. He’s currently hitting .324 with 18 HRs and
60 RBIs. Those numbers are rock solid
and no one could deny him a start based upon what he’s accomplishing. However, bear in mind he plays in the very
small market of Pittsburgh. One would
think that a major marketing campaign is taking place there to make him receive
more than 4 times the number of votes as Pete Alonso.
Following Bell in 2nd and 3rd place are
some great players who have been there before – Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs and
Freddie Freeman of the Braves. They are
respectively 150,000 and 210,000 off the pace of Bell.
Next comes the also highly unlikely Max Muncy of the Los
Angeles Dodgers. Muncy was one of those “come
from out of nowhere” players in 2018 who finished the year hitting .263 with 35
HRs and 79 RBIs at age 27 being a starter for the first time. He’s picked right up where he left off,
hitting .278 with 15 HRs and 40 RBIs. For
that he’s received 223,000 All-Star votes.
By comparison Pete Alonso has 22 HRs (2nd to
Christian Yelich), 49 RBIs (7th in the league) and is hitting
.254. He’s 6th in SLG, 10th
in OBP, yet inexplicably Pete only has 157,000 votes, nearly a half million off
the pace to catch Josh Bell. While
everyone readily acknowledges that the New York Mets do not operate their
business like a big market team, the fact remains they are in New York and it
doesn’t take a huge investment in someone destined to be a core player for at
least the next five years (before free agency kicks in) to campaign long and
hard for Alonso to start at 1st base in the All-Star Game.
Do your duty as a Mets fan and click here to be taken to the
online balloting for the All-Star Game.
Yes, Bell may be more deserving, but let’s at least get Alonso the
respect he deserves and increase his likelihood to represent the Mets
there.
If not him, who would it be? Edwin Diaz? Jeff McNeil? Jacob deGrom (reputation)? Wilson Ramos (reputation)? Michael Conforto (reputation)? Jason Vargas (hot streak at the right
time)? We know it won’t be Robinson
Cano or Todd Frazier.
I voted for Pete and Jeff - there, I said it.
ReplyDeleteclicked and voted... for Bell
ReplyDelete(just kidding)
I don't feel like someone can be an all-star two to three months into their career. To me, an all-star is a status that requires a little more track record than that. However thrilling those three months might have been.
ReplyDeleteI also wish people would vote for the best players and not just their home team favourites (although I recognise they don't always). But I actually think that right now, Josh Bell is having a better season....
does Alonso need the recognition? He's probably having enough thrown at him, enough fame, glory and attention. He may well be Rookie of the Year, and I'm sure he has media requests left right and center. He doesn't "need" and All-star selection, there will be plenty of those to come.
I suppose it's us Mets fans who crave the recognition. being Mets fans, we wish for a bit more excitement and glory! So from that point of view, why not....
Pete and Jeff for sure but on another subject as I watched another Diaz disaster unfold it made me wonder how much better we could be if Brodie actually made GOOD off season moves or at least a few anyway. It's disappointing to be sure to just be fighting to stay at .500 but it's really hard to believe just how bad his off season was or another way to approach this is to ask yourself if you could "redo" last winter would you still make ANY of those trades/signings again? I just really hope for our sake's that this new FO can get it right or to bring up the George opposite episode in Seinfeld "if everything you do is wrong then the opposite must be right....here's hoping. Also would it surprise anyone to find out Diaz has an arm issue. I'm just waiting for the news.
ReplyDeleteAlexander raises a good point. Bell is indeed overall having the best year of any NL first baseman. My point is that he's not more than four times as good as Pete Alonso and I take issue with the fact that the Mets are not doing much to promote his sensational start to his career. I have no issue if Bell is the starter but Alonso deserves to be there as well. With him so far off the pace he may not get the nod.
ReplyDeleteI was about to address what Gary said with respect to the BVW decision to let Pete Alonso come north and start the year on day one despite the service tiem issues, but then I remembered that both Todd Frazier and Jed Lowrie were ailing coming out of spring training. It wasn't so much his bold move doing that as it was his desperation given the alternatives not being available to man 1st and 3rd respectively.
ReplyDeleteReese, yes, totally agree. Mets fans are obviously not feeling the energy yet!
ReplyDeleteAlexander, great to "hear" from you. My take? I want to vote for Alonso, since if he gets a good # of votes, it increases his chance of making the team as a back up.
ReplyDeleteI would only want him on the team if Pete stays hot the next 3 weeks before the July 9 game.
McNeil's having missed a dozen or so games makes his All Star chances light. Had he not missed those games, and played just as well as he is now, he'd get more serious consideration. But, despite the 4th best overall MLB average, he is just 42nd in hits due to the missed games.
In my view, he'd have to get red hot the next 3 weeks, playing daily, to have a shot.
We can vote ("early and often ", as was often said in Chicago), but let's not forget that it's basically a popularity contest for a game that's only meaningful symbolically. I'm glad the powers that be have removed the "winner gets home field WS advantage, which would only be relevant if the selections were made by those who are best equipped to judge. But it's still just a showcase.
ReplyDeleteThe selections of the non-starters and the pitchers are made by the pros, and even though Pete and Jeff have little chance of starting, I'm confident that they will be on the team.
Of course, a lot can happen on the field between now and game time, but if they keep producing as they have so far, I'll be VERY disappointed if they are left off.