Tag: Pete Alonso

Pete Alonso fizzles out at 2024 Home Run Derby

Pete Alonso came into the 2024 Home Run Derby with hopes of winning a third title, but he’ll have to wait another year after failing to make it out of the first round.

Even [autotag]Pete Alonso[/autotag] would describe his 2024 Home Run Derby as disappointing.

The former Florida slugger and current New York Met is a staple at the event, but consecutive first-round exits could mean the end of the Polar Bear at the All-Star Weekend event. Alonso hit just 12 homers at Glove Life Park in Arlington, Texas, the second-lowest total by any of the first-round competitors.

Alonso got off to a slow start, hitting just five dingers before using his first timeout with 1:37 left on a 3-minute timer. The brief break didn’t do him much good, though. Alonso only belted four more before time expired. He added three more in bonus time, but it was still far from the 19 he needed to advance to the semifinals.

According to MLB.com, Alonso’s 12 homers averaged 417 feet and a 105.5-mph exit velocity. The hardest ball he hit came off the bat at 109 mph and the farthest ball he hit went 446 feet.

Former Mets bench coach Dave Jauss threw to Alonso. The two struggled to find a rhythm, failing to connect for a home run on 15-straight pitches at on point. Alonso won the event in 2019 and 2021, but he hasn’t been able to tie Ken Griffey Jr. as a three-time champion.

Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm (21), Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez (21), Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. (20) and the Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernandez (19) advanced to the second round. Texas’ Adolis Garcia (18), Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna (16) and Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson (11) were knocked out in the first round along with Alonso.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Pete Alonso an All-Star for 3rd straight season, will compete in Home Run Derby

Pete Alonso is headed back to the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby, which take place in Arlington, Texas this year.

Former Florida first baseman [autotag]Pete Alonso[/autotag] is once again a major league All-Star

On Sunday, the New York Mets slugger was named a 2024 National League roster reserve. It’s Alonso’s fourth time being selected and the third year in a row he’s headed to the midsummer classic.

“I thought (Alonso) got hot and then he got cold, but this is a guy who can carry us,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said to The Athletic. “I like the at-bats as of late. I think he is making progress as far as the chases go, but the impact there, he’s a game changer.”

Alonso got off to a fairly normal start, belting eight homers through the first full month of the season, but he didn’t see the ball as well in May. His walk rate dipped, his strikeout rate up and the homers were cut in half. Alonso’s bat is too good to fall below the league average (108 wRC + in May), but he wasn’t the same kind of threat in the batter’s box.

Struggling to hit for average in May isn’t something new for Alonso, but he usually comes close to double-digit homers when healthy. He spent most of June refining his approach and raised his batting average considerably.

Alonso is the lone representative from the Mets this year. He moves ahead of Keith Hernandez for most by a first baseman in franchise history. David Wright holds the franchise record regardless of position with seven, and Mike Piazza, Tom Seaver and Darryl Strawberry are tied in second with six apiece.

The All-Star Game will be played on July 16 at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.

Home Run Derby

Alonso also announced that he would be participating in the Home Run Derby for a fifth straight time. He’ll compete with Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson and Philadelphia’s Alex Bohm. The rest of the field has not been announced.

The Polar Bear is chasing history as he looks to join Ken Griffey Jr. as the only three-time winner of the derby. Alonso won in 2019 as a rookie and again in 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 event.

Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez has eliminated Alonso in the back-to-back years.

The Home Run Derby is scheduled for July 15 at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Former Gator Pete Alonso hits 200th HR at record pace

Former Florida slugger Pete Alonso has hit his 200th career home run in MLB. He’s the fourth-fastest to reach that threshold.

Former Florida slugger and current New York Mets first baseman [autotag]Pete Alonso[/autotag] is on pace to go down as one of baseball’s greatest sluggers, and he reached another major milestone on Saturday.

Alonso hit the 200th home run of his career in the bottom of the fifth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals. Alonso reached the double-century mark in just 710 games, which is the fourth fastest pace in MLB history. Only Aaron Judge and Ryan Howard have done it faster in the last 25 years.

The next milestone for Alonso to pass is Daryl Strawberry’s franchise record of 252 homers. Strawberry has already said he wants to see Alonso get it done, but he’ll be an unrestricted free agent once this season comes to an end.

Alonso and the Mets agreed on a $20.5 million contract ahead of the 2024 season to avoid arbitration. He’s on pace to come up just short of a 40-homer season, but he’ll still demand a massive contract in the prime of his career.

If Alonso finishes out the season with 35 homers, he’ll still pass Mike Piazza for third on the franchise’s all-time list. David Wright holds the No. 2 spot with 242 home runs.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Former Florida star Pete Alonso announces 2024 charity initiative

Pete Alonso and the Alonso Foundation are pledging $1,000 to animal shelters for every home run the former Gator hits in 2024.

Former Florida Gator and current New York Mets first baseman [autotag]Pete Alonso[/autotag] has announced a charity initiative ahead of the 2024 MLB season.

On Saturday, he announced the Alonso Foundation would donate $1,000 to animal rescues for each home run he hits this season. The money will go toward the transport of animals, beds, toys and more to help them get out of kill shelters.

“Hopefully there’s a lot of homers and we get to save a lot of animals.”

Donations can be made at alonsofoundation.org.

Alonso has been one of the premiere power hitters in baseball since arriving to MLB in 2019. He’s never hit fewer than 37 home runs in a full season (16 during the COVID-shortened 2020 season). He should push for 40-plus longballs again in 2024.

This isn’t the first time Alonso has used his power for good. He’s used prize money from the Home Run Derby to donate to Wounded Warriors, which is what prompted him and his wife, Hayley, to organize their foundation.

Alonso also donated $50,000 to Tunnels to Towers, a charity that helps families of New York first responders who died on the job.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Pete Alonso makes history with third 40-homer season

Former Florida Gators first baseman Pete Alonso has joined a historic club with his third 40-homer season in five season as big leaguer.

All [autotag]Pete Alonso[/autotag] has done since leaving Gainesville is hit home runs.

On Sunday, the former Gator and current New York Met joined a historic group after homering twice in a 6-3 win over the Seattle Mariners. Alonso has reached 40 home runs in three of his five seasons in the MLB, joining Ralph Kiner, Eddie Mathews, Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols as the fifth player to accomplish the feat in league history, according to ESPN.

Kiner and Mathrews are already Hall of Famers, and Pujols most certainly will be a first-ballot member. Alonso is joining elite company and should go down as one of the best power hitters of his generation. It hasn’t been enough to win an MVP yet, but he finished in the top 10 in 2022 (also in 2019).

“Kind of mind-baffling,” Alonso said. “Impressive names. I had no idea.”

Alonso’s contact tool is what’s holding him back from being a legitimate MVP candidate, and his .225 average this season is the worst of his career. 2024 will be his final arbitration-eligible season with the Mets, meaning he could enter free agency in the summer of 2025. The former Gator is already being paid $14.5 million this year and should get a raise over the offseason.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Pete Alonso: It was a ‘bad brain fart’ accidentally throwing Masyn Winn’s first-ever hit into stands

He felt so bad about it.

Pete Alonso didn’t mean it, he swears.

The New York Mets first basemen seemed unaware on Friday night that an infield hit by St. Louis Cardinals prospect Masyn Winn was the first of his Major League career. And that tracks, because why would Alonso then toss it right into the stands?

Fear not. It appears the ball — which you’d normally toss to the dugout for the player to keep — was retrieved and all is well.

But the incident itself? Kind of a wild sequence of events.

First, there was Alonso tossing the ball into the stands, definitely an OOPS moment:

Then? It got retrieved after the fan finally gave it up:

Alonso felt so bad about it:

As for how Wynn felt? No hard feelings. Via MLB.com:

“I think everybody will remember their first big league hit or first big league strikeout, and I’m super excited that I got the ball back,” said Winn, who went 1-for-4 in the Cardinals’ 7-1 loss to the Mets at Busch Stadium. “I was trying not to crack up laughing as soon as I heard [Busch Stadium fans yelling for the ball to be returned]. It was very funny, and I’m really glad [she] gave it back and that I got to sign a ball for her.”

1 overlay video shows how Pete Alonso’s Home Run Derby pitcher couldn’t stop hitting the outside corner

He hit the outside corner A LOT.

Remember Dave Jauss, the New York Mets bench coach back in 2021 who threw so well at the Home Run Derby to help Pete Alonso win back-to-back titles?

Well, he wasn’t there at the 2023 derby with Alonso, who was eliminated before Vlad Guerrero Jr. won. Instead, it was Mets assistant Aaron Myers who stepped in when Alonso’s other pitcher, Mike Friedlein, who tossed to him.

And Myers was great at painting the outside corner, which was either Alonso’s strategy all along, or just weird consistency. It was better than what Adolis Garcia got!

Thanks to Pitching Ninja, we have an overlay video, along with jokes from fans:

Pete Alonso a Home Run Derby favorite heading into MLB All-Star Week

Former Gator and New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso will compete for a third Home Run Derby crown on Monday, and he enters All-Star Week as the betting favorite to come out on top.

The MLB All-Star Break is almost here and former Florida slugger Pete Alonso is the current favorite to win the 2023 Home Run Derby, according to FanDuel.

Alonso’s +300 odds narrowly edge out Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. +350, and the White Sox’s Luis Robert Jr. is the next closest at +400. The rest of the field is at +500 or worse odds, which means the money is on one of those three that come out on top. Alonso has -178 odds in the first round.

Of course, Alonso is a two-time winner at the derby, having won it as a rookie in 2019 and again after COVID in 2021. He fell in the semifinals against Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez a year ago, but FanDuel thinks Alonso will get some revenge in the opening-round rematch set for Monday.

As far as prop bets go, Alonso over Robert in the final is the favorite at +850, and the former Gator has the second-best odds (+340) to hit the longest home run of the night; Guerrero (+240) is the favorite. The over/under for total home runs is set at 274.5 (-113).

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1952]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Former Gator Pete Alonso competing in 2023 Home Run Derby

Gator Nation will be cheering on Pete Alonso once again this All-Star Break as the former Florida first baseman goes for a third crown at the Home Run Derby.

The quest for the three-Pete is back on!

Former Gator and current New York Met [autotag]Pete Alonso[/autotag] is set to compete in yet another Home Run Derby and is seeking a third crown at the event. Alonso won the 2019 and 2021 derbies, beating Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Trey Mancini, respectively.

He won both final rounds with a score of 23-22, but Julio Rodriguez’s 31 homers in the 2022 semifinals knocked Alonso out. The event was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alonso already holds the record for most home runs all-time in the event with 174 big flies. He will rematch Rodriguez (Mariners) in the opening round and face the winner of Mookie Betts (Dodgers) and Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays) if he advances.

On the other side of the bracket are Randy Arozarena (Rays), Adolis Garcia (Rangers), Luis Robert Jr. (White Sox), and Adley Rutschman (Orioles).

The event will air on ESPN exclusively Monday at 8 p.m. EDT, while ESPN will deliver a Statcast-focused alternate feed. ESPN Radio, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN App will all broadcast the derby as well.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 category=1952]

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Pete Alonso’s exhausted reaction during Mets game perfectly summed up New York’s disastrous season

We get it, Pete. We get it.

New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso looks like he’s just about had it with how his team’s season is going during a game on Friday night.

The Mets are in the midst of a nightmarish season, one that started with them as World Series contenders and sits with them as one of baseball’s biggest 2023 disappointments.

During Friday night’s home tilt against the San Francisco Giants, the Mets led 4-2 in the game until catcher Patrick Bailey blasted a homer and gave San Francisco a 5-4 lead in the top of the eighth inning.

That score would hold, putting the Mets at a tough 36-46 record for the year as June closes.

Once Bailey hit the homer, Alonso couldn’t hide his frustration at the blown lead… and likely at the whole New York season in general.

The game camera caught Alonso close his eyes, throw his head back and seemingly deliver a deep sigh of exhaustion before refocusing himself for the game.

Alonso also cracked one of his bats in half after the fifth inning, so it was just not a good night for him in general.

Can you blame him? Alonso is an excellent player who, like many on the Mets’ roster, really deserves a lot more than how this season has gone for his team.

Unless things turn around dramatically for New York, Alonso’s moments of frustration probably aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.