If you have been paying attention to MLB since 2019, you know that New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso has some serious power.
In 2019, his rookie season, he hit 53 home runs, enough to break Aaron Judge‘s 2017 record for a rookie with 52.
He then had 16 in the pandemic season of 2020, and 37 last year.
So far, he has 25 round-trippers in the 2022 campaign, and has positioned himself as perhaps the most powerful hitter in the National League.
“Pete Alonso has been on fire through his first 4 seasons,” Fox Sports MLB tweeted, with a graph showing Alonso’s vast power.
Pete Alonso has been on fire through his first 4 seasons 🐻❄️‼️ pic.twitter.com/hjRxOOZadY
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 16, 2022
With 141 home runs, Alonso has the fourth-highest tally for a player in his first four MLB seasons.
Alonso Is In Elite Company
The legendary Ralph Kiner, who had to retire early in his career with a back problem, had 168 in the 40s.
A future Hall of Famer, Albert Pujols hit 160 long balls from 2001 to 2004, his first four years; and Atlanta Braves legend Eddie Matthews had 153 between 1952 and 1955.
If you have any doubts about Alonso’s prodigious power, we thoroughly recommend watching Home Run Derbies ever since he made his debut.
He may not hit for a high average, as his .260 career mark suggest, but he sure punishes the ball when it counts.
With Alonso as their primary middle-of-the-order masher, the Mets already have 90 wins and look like a bonafide contender in the National League.
Alonso’s power production is just as important to the Mets as having Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer in the rotation, for example.
If he gets hot in October, New York may have a chance at beating the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Atlanta Braves, the St. Louis Cardinals and any other squad that gets in their way.
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