Aidan Cooke - Pete Alonso Looks Ready to Get Hot at the Plate

   (PC: Ed Delany)

 It's no secret that the Mets have been struggling as of late, having won just 2 of their last 10 games played entering their series against the Nationals. While their pitching wasn't necessarily great, the offense was still mostly to blame. During that ten-game span against the Reds, Marlins, and Phillies, the Mets collectively batted .191/.282/.316 and averaged just 2.7 runs per game. 

    An important player in the Mets lineup is Pete Alonso, and his offensive performance seems to reflect the performance of the whole ball club. During their rough 10 game stretch, Alonso hit a measly .103, with a .297 OBP and .241 SLG. Having a black hole in the 2nd or 3rd spot in the order seriously hurts any team's chances of scoring.

    After falling from 1st place in the NL East down to 3rd, the Mets looked to turn their fortune around against an uncompetitive Nationals squad that had just sold off most of their productive players at the deadline. The pitching struggled, with Carlos Carrasco surrendering a 3-run homer to Juan Soto in the 1st inning and Rich Hill giving up 3 runs in his 3 innings of work. The bats would have to wake up big time if the Mets wanted any chance of winning this game.

    And they did just that, plating 8 to defeat the Nationals 8-7, their highest run total since their 15-11 victory over the Reds back on July 19th. 

    Pete Alonso continued to mirror the club's offensive output, putting together a great night at the dish. In the first inning, with the bases empty and 2 outs, Alonso snapped an 0-for-21 stretch by smoking a double out to center field. The pitch left the bat at a blazing 107.4 miles per hour and traveled approximately 412 feet, making it the furthest hit ball of the game. It was hit harder and farther than Soto's home run in the top half of the inning, but Citi Field's dimensions limited Alonso to a two-bagger (that's baseball for ya). Alonso came in to score anyway to begin the comeback. 

    In his next at-bat, Pete found a way to hit the ball even harder, hammering a single at 110.4 MPH. He was able to advance McNeil to 3rd base (allowing him to cross the plate on Conforto's ground out) and later scored the tying run on JD Davis's double. 

    In the 5th inning, Alonso flew out, hitting the ball 85.4 MPH for his softest batted ball of the game. Pete got right back in the swing of things in his next at-bat, nearly hitting a home run on a 108 MPH laser beam but settling for a double off the top of the wall in left-center field. It got the Mets within one run and set the momentum in New York's favor. 

    After the Mets were swept by the Phillies, Alonso told the fans to believe the process and that the results would come. He frustrated many Mets fans with his words, but maybe Alonso was right. Despite his 0-for-21 stretch and the team's overall struggles, there were some bright spots in his hitting game. During his aforementioned 10-game stretch, Alonso maintained an impressive 21.6% walk rate and only struck out 18.9% of the time. In fact, since the All-Star Game, Pete has a 14.1% walk rate (T-12th among 160 qualified hitters) and a 16.8% strikeout percentage. Only Mark Canha, Matt Olson, and Juan Soto have both walked and struck out at a better rate than Alonso.

    Additionally, Alonso hasn't been making bad contact lately. In Saturday's game against the Phillies, Pete only put one ball in play, but it was scorched off the bat at 108.6 MPH. Then on Sunday, Alonso crushed a 389-foot, 106.7 MPH drive that ended up being caught for a flyout. When compared to similar batted balls (based on the angle and velocity it was hit at) Alonso's flyout would have been a hit 96% of the time. In game one against the Nationals, Alonso added three more hard-hit balls, but those all fell in for hits.

    If Alonso can maintain his career-best plate discipline and continue making hard contact at the plate, he can fuel a postseason push for a Mets club that desperately needs to catch fire.