At one point during the offseason, it appeared Pete Alonso’s time with the New York Mets was over. The Mets seemed ready to move on from their homegrown four-time All-Star after both sides remained far apart in contract talks.
However, following a sit-down conversation between Mets owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns with Alonso and agent Scott Boras, a deal was reached to bring back the first baseman for two years and $54 million, with an opt-out.
Despite making the All-Star team in 2024, Alonso had a down year. He posted his lowest full-season home run total (34) and OPS (.788), while striking out 172 times. Now back in Queens, he’s off to the best start of his career. As of Friday, Alonso leads the National League in on-base percentage (.450), OPS+ (210), and doubles (13), while also topping the league in RBI (34).
If not for New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, Alonso would currently be the best hitter in baseball. Given his sizzling start, Yahoo Sports MLB analyst Jordan Shusterman predicts Alonso will win the Triple Crown this season, despite his career-high batting average being just .271.
“So far, Alonso has done more than just reestablish his offensive credentials after what might’ve been his worst season in 2024 — he looks better than ever,” writes Shusterman for MLB.com. “This is most evident in his sky-high batting average (.328!), which is the key ingredient of this bold prediction. The notion that Alonso could lead the league in home runs and/or RBIs is hardly an ambitious proclamation and seems highly plausible at this point. But entering this season, it would’ve been far-fetched to expect a career .249 hitter to compete for a batting title in tandem with his usual power production. Yet here we are!”
Shusterman notes that Alonso is currently walking more than ever while simultaneously reducing his strikeouts.
“Alonso has always hit the ball exceptionally hard, but now he’s making markedly more contact, with career-low whiff (21.6%) and strikeout (17.2%) rates while walking at a career-best 15.4% clip,” adds Shusterman. “With elite power already in place, this uptick in on-base ability has enabled a huge spike in his overall production, which has Alonso in the thick of the NL MVP race — no small feat considering he has Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto as teammates.”
No National League player has won the Triple Crown since Joe Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1937.
Currently, Alonso ranks first in the NL in RBI, second in batting average, and tied for sixth in home runs (9). It’s a long season with many games ahead, but with the way Alonso is swinging the bat, he could become the first NL Triple Crown winner in 88 years.
