Mets' Pete Alonso comments on ending slump amid free-agency drama
New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso.
New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso broke out of his worrisome slump with a two-run double and a ninth-inning home run in a 7-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.
“It was nice to have a positive impact on the game,” Alonso said after the win, as shared by Phillip Martinez of SNY. “It’s nice to be able to help in the manner I did tonight. I just want to continue to have good, quality at-bats and keep hitting the ball in the big part of the field.”
According to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), Alonso ended droughts of 1-for-32 and 2-for-39 at the dish a handful of hours after comments he made about his pending free agency were shared by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. While the 29-year-old told Rosenthal he wasn’t “particularly thinking about” his long-term future, the numbers and his offensive performances suggested he was feeling the pressure of playing in a contract year.
Following Tuesday’s MLB action, Alonso owned a .212 batting average and a .742 OPS on the season. Across 36 games, he recorded nine homers and 19 RBI.
“Not real changes but trying different feels,” Alonso said about what worked for him at Busch Stadium on Tuesday. “Trying to get back to hitting the ball hard in the big part of the field. It’s just a matter of when it’s going to happen.”
Back-to-back victories improved the Mets to 18-18 on what could become a legacy-defining campaign for Alonso. He told Rosenthal he loves playing home games in the Big Apple and considers himself “a New Yorker,” but he nevertheless finds himself the constant subject of trade rumors.
There’s no sign Alonso and the Mets will ink a contract extension before he reaches free agency after the 2024 World Series. It’s believed New York could make him available to other teams if the club has a losing record around or after the All-Star break.
“He wants us to win,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said about Alonso on Tuesday night. “He’s 0-for, but we’re shaking hands at the end of the game, and that’s what matters to him. He shows up the next day with a smile on his face, grinding, working on his craft, and for him to have a game like that is good.”
Alonso may need many more games “like that” over the next two-and-a-half months to ensure he stays with the Mets through at least the end of July.
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