PETE ALONSO RANKED 3RD ON MLB NETWORK’S COUNTDOWN
TOP 10 FIRST BASEMEN RIGHT NOW!
Michael Conforto Ranked 9th on Top 10 Right Fielders Right Now!
January 18, 2020 – New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso was ranked third on MLB Network’s annual Top 10 First Basemen Right Now! program earlier tonight, while teammate Michael Conforto was ranked ninth on the Top 10 Right Fielders Right Now!. Alonso, who makes his debut on the countdown, finished one spot ahead of the Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo and one spot behind the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Max Muncy. Conforto, who ranked eighth on last year’s countdown of left fielders, finished one spot ahead of free agent Nicholas Castellanos and one spot behind the Texas Rangers’ Joey Gallo. In addition to Alonso and Conforto, the Mets’ Brandon Nimmo ranked ninth on Top 10 Center Fielders Right Now! last week.
Hosted by MLB Network’s Brian Kenny alongside MLB Network analysts, each Top 10 Right Now! ranking considers player performance over the last two seasons, with an emphasis on 2019. Offensive, defensive and Statcast metrics, plus expert analysis by the MLB Network research team, are also taken into account when determining each ranking.
On tonight’s countdown, MLB Network analyst and former first baseman Carlos Peña said of Alonso, “Look at his swing, it never looks like he’s off balance. He’s on time to hit, that’s why you see those monster numbers. …His swing is very sound.”
On Conforto, analyst and former New York Met Cliff Floyd said, “Really good player. Has dealt with [the Mets] moving him around, but I think he is a versatile type of player, who can move around because he’s athletic. …I want to see him get better against left-handed pitching, I think that’s one thing when you look at being an everyday player, you have to hit left-handed pitching.”
The complete rankings for MLB Network’s top-10 first basemen and right fielders are listed below and available at mlb.com/top10rightnow. Embeddable recaps on Alonso and Conforto can be seen here and here:
Top 10 First Basemen Right Now!
1. Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves
2. Max Muncy, Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Pete Alonso, New York Mets
4. Anthony Rizzo, Chicago Cubs
5. Paul Goldschmidt, St. Louis Cardinals
6. Matt Olson, Oakland Athletics
7. Luke Voit, New York Yankees
8. Carlos Santana, Cleveland Indians
9. Josh Bell, Pittsburgh Pirates
10. Edwin Encarnación, Chicago White Sox
Top 10 Right Fielders Right Now!
1. Mookie Betts, Boston Red Sox
2. Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers
3. Aaron Judge, New York Yankees
4. Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves
5. J.D. Martinez, Boston Red Sox
6. Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies
7. Jorge Soler, Kansas City Royals
8. Joey Gallo, Texas Rangers
9. Michael Conforto, New York Mets
10. Nicholas Castellanos, Free Agent
Now in its tenth season, MLB Network’s Top 10 Right Now! series features analysis from MLB Network on-air personalities and roundtable discussions with The Ringer’s Ben Lindbergh, and MLB.com writers Mike Petriello and Sarah Langs. As 2020 marks the 100-year anniversary of the Live Ball Era, each episode will include a new segment called “Top 10 of the Live Ball Era,” featuring Brian Kenny and Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo discussing and debating the best players at each position over the last 100 years.
3 comments:
Pete at # 3 already? Amazing. Some likely could think he should be # 1 right now.
Conforto at # 9. Solid, but I'd like to see him pierce the top 5 in 2020.
If you were drafting a team and had the first pick of 1Bs youd take Alonso over Freeman or Muncy.
There are a lot of good bats that belong to first basemen. I think before we gush too wildly over Alonso, let's see how the sophomore jinx affects him.
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