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8/20/19

Tony Plate - Alonso Sets NL Rookie Homer Record


   SAFE AT THE PLATE..............WITH TONY PLATE




New York Mets Rookie Pete Alonso set the National League rookie home run record this past Sunday when he homered off of reliever Jacob Barnes in the top of the ninth for his 40th home run of the season and went 3 for 4 in the Mets 11-5 win over the Kansas City Royals.


The record was previously established by Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017. Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees holds the Major League Baseball rookie record of 52 home runs which he established in 2017.


 With 58 games left to play, Alonso will have a shot at besting the record. Alonso has been on a roll winning the home run hitting contest at the All-Star game, breaking the rookie home run record and possibly winning the Rookie of the Year Award if he keeps up his power hitting.

When Alonso competed for the first-base job along with Dom Smith and Todd Frazier during Spring Training I sensed that he would win the job especially with his slugging statistics and with all of the hype that came his way.


 He hit 36 homers with 119 runs batted in with a .975 OPS at two levels in the minor leagues last season, but the Mets did not call him up, because of his defensive deficiency at first base. This gave Alonso the incentive to work hard on his defense during Spring Training which paid off when he did make a few good defensive plays this season. 


He got off to a good start with the bat by hitting a two- run homer against the Atlanta Braves in the New York Mets first spring training game. When he faced the Braves early in the regular season, I remember that he homered to straight away center and the ball landed into the scenic water-backdrop high above the centerfield wall. 

He did the same thing last week. His long home runs remind me of how far Dave Kingman used to hit them.  

The scouting report on Alonso is that he likes the ball low and outside then when he is able to extend his arms, he usually hits the ball to right-center field. So, the strategy for any pitcher would be to pitch him inside and a little high so he would not be able to extend his arms. One TV even analyst suggested that.


 It totally bewilders me that National League pitchers do not pitch him like that. You would think they would be more cautious and pitch carefully to him just like against any slugger.  Most of the home runs Alonso has hit have been low and outside or low and down the middle from what I’ve seen. If Alonso keeps it up, he can lead the Mets to a possible wild card spot.

In other Mets news, former New York Mets pitcher AL Jackson, 83, passed away yesterday after a long illness. He spent fifty years in the Mets organization as a pitcher, coach, pitching coordinator and front office advisor.






8 comments:

  1. Pete's 40th was a high fastball that he drilled - he has the ability to hit everything, high and low. He is not static - he is continually improving - let the league beware.

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  2. Tom, I said most of the home runs Alonso has hit have been low and outside or low & down the middle from what I’ve seen, but I did not say all of the home runs were, I would watch the re-play & the pitch would be where he likes it most of the time which is unusual. You would think that when he is up the manager & pitching coach would remind the pitcher & catcher to pitch him inside & high where he doesn't like the pitch to try to jam him more often where he would have less of a chance to hit a home run. The Tampa pitchers did that to Aaron Judge a month ago.

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  3. Mack, I would say he will hit over 46

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  4. Mack Attack!

    I think Alonzo an incredible homerun hitter and will hit 50 in 2019. However, sometimes too I wish that when the Mets have a runner on second base in a close game later on, that Peter would just go for a briskly hit single and not go for a homerun with a two strike count. But Alonso is a fabulous player all around, and everyone is thrilled to have him here on our beloved NY Mets. Plus, he's a shirt ripper for sure!

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  5. I think that the argument on which lefty young Mets MiLB starting pitcher (between Szapucki A Ball, K.Smith A/AA Ball, and David Peterson AA Ball) is the best lefty starter is an interesting discussion to pose.

    I think realistically, that it is way too early to know this because all three have sincere promise of getting to the majors. All three starters are sort of finesse style pitchers, utilizing curves and sliders. But I think from the scouting reports I have been reading, that David Peterson may actually have the best fastball of the three.

    But really, it is way too early to know which starter will fare the best once up in the bigs, although I wouldn't at all be surprised if all three made it to the majors and did well.

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  6. Here's the big real question right here Mets fans.

    Is this current 2019 NY Mets rotation of: deGrom, Syndergaard, Wheeler, Matz, and Stroman, the very best EVER for this baseball sports franchise? And don't give me rotations that had two or three really good starters as being better, because this 2019 rotation goes deep and through five excellent starters.

    Be fair. Be real.

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  7. Todd still needs to get re-energized in the weightroom.

    Muscle builds stamina and quickness. Muscle gives us confidence and more hormone production, which makes us feel like Superman. We need Todd to be Superman again. Like when on Cincy. He can do this if he wants to.

    Todd has not completely grasped this yet, but hopefully will sometime before the 22nd century begins. Todd still absolutely has the talent, he just needs to regain his edge batting and this is I think how.

    As we age, we have got to actually do more to stay even with our best talent, performance, feeling, and game. When we compromise this, we begin to lose.

    Todd can be the same guy he was on Cincy.

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