Mets' Pete Alonso cleaning up behind Juan Soto so far
The Mets are getting the most out Juan Soto and Pete Alonso hitting back-to-back thus far. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The first-pitch temperature Tuesday at Citi Field was 43 degrees — 35 if you factor in the wind chill off Flushing Bay — and it felt much colder than that, with players bundled up like Arctic explorers.
In other words, the perfect climate for a Polar Bear, so Pete Alonso was right in his element. While the warm-weather Marlins looked like fish out of water in nearly every capacity Tuesday, whether it was comically bad glovework, negligent disregard for the pitch clock or bizarre defensive positioning by rookie manager Clayton McCullough (he left the Dodgers for this?), their biggest mistake came against Alonso in the sixth inning.
Alonso’s redemption tour continued at full speed Tuesday, with four RBIs and a pair of doubles, including a three-run, 113-mph missile in the sixth that blew open the Mets’ 10-5 victory, their sixth straight win. One thing in particular about Alonso’s pivotal trip to the plate: the Marlins chose to load the bases by intentionally walking Juan Soto in front of him.
On paper, maybe that’s understandable, especially when Miami brought in righty reliever Ronny Henriquez with Soto coming up. And opposing teams taking the bat out of Soto’s hands to try their luck with Alonso is something the Mets figured they’d have to deal with since bringing back the Polar Bear to protect their $765 million investment.
A year ago, Soto finished third in the American League MVP voting by having Aaron Judge hit behind him. The Yankees captain, of course, won the award by sweeping just about every offensive category, smashing 58 homers with 144 RBIs. Naturally, Alonso faced similar pressure coming into this season — could he even come close to being a similar Judge-type threat for Soto?
Obviously, Alonso isn’t Judge. But let’s just say he’s doing a fairly decent job in that No. 3 role so far, and Alonso made the Marlins pay for giving that free pass to Soto. He wasn’t surprised at all, just fired up to do damage, something that Alonso’s been great at to this point.
“I’m like, hell yeah, let’s go,” Alonso said. “Time to execute a game plan.”
Alonso took a first-pitch strike, then reached down to hammer a sinker into the left-centerfield gap for the double that stretched the Mets’ previous 6-5 edge. The Marlins should’ve known better. True, it’s Soto, the “generational talent.” But Alonso’s been the most dangerous Met by far through the first 10 games, hitting a team-high .333 with 15 RBIs (the next closest is Brandon Nimmo with seven). And with the video he’s putting up, the Soto-Alonso conundrum is only getting more difficult for opposing pitchers.
“It gets to a point where, pick your poison there,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “They decided to pitch to Pete and I’m glad he came through. I wasn’t surprised at all.”
And Alonso, much like Judge, is cashing in by having Soto in front of him. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement that’s working out just like the Mets dreamed.
“Honestly, he’s just such a pro,” Alonso said. “Obviously, we know he has power, he has the hit tool, super-dynamic player offensively. But the thing that I really benefit from is because he sees a lot of pitches, I can kind of see what they’re doing to him. And I can take some mental notes with that.”
Clay Holmes, who picked up his first win Tuesday as a starter since 2018, saw the Soto-Judge dynamic firsthand in the Bronx last season. It was an impossible choice to make because there were no right answers, just a pitch and a prayer. At the moment, the Soto-Alonso tag team is a tough one, too.
“Pete’s been swinging it really well,” Holmes said. “But obviously, Juan’s Juan; he sets the table and is able to do a lot of things. I think we’ll take both those guys up right now with runners on.”
Actually, Juan hasn’t been Juan quite yet. He’s hitting .308 after a pair of singles Tuesday, his high-water mark on the season, and his .438 on-base percentage is where it should be, so he’s heating up. But in the meantime, he’s fine creating traffic for Alonso behind him. Soto twice scored Tuesday on Alonso doubles.
“Whenever they don’t want to pitch to me, I know I have a guy behind me that can make it even worse for them,” Soto said. “He’s been taking really good at-bats, he’s been taking his walks and everything. He’s not trying to be the hero.”
Still, Alonso keeps being the hero, anyway. It was Francisco Lindor who put the Mets on the board first Tuesday with his leadoff homer, a towering second-deck shot, but Alonso tied the score with an RBI double in the third inning, a 200-foot rainbow that dropped roughly six inches inside the rightfield line behind first base. The expected batting average on that blooper was .010, according to Statcast.
Even when Alonso didn’t swing Tuesday, he remained a huge factor. When the Marlins pitched around him in the fifth inning, and Alonso drew a walk, Nimmo crushed the next pitch for a two-run double that short-hopped the wall in leftfield. On a Polar Bear sort of day, Alonso’s presence left a big paw print.
“Yeah, it’s cold, it’s windy. So what?” Alonso said. “We got to go out there, we got to put our uniform on and we got to go win a ballgame. I think that was a huge statement game for us.”
And a sign of what lies ahead for this Soto-Alonso powered Mets lineup.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
