An extended hot streak has begun to change the narrative for one of the Mets.
Pete Alonso is no longer on pace for his worst major league season.
His numbers at the end of September will be typical Alonso power numbers.
Then again, it’s hard to dismiss that woeful 12-week stretch when the Mets needed their best offensive player, and he was unable to come through, mired in the worst slump of his five-year career.
His 2023 season can be looked at in two ways.
Alonso has managed to dig himself out of the depths of that dark skid and provide some moments of enjoyment in an otherwise dismal year.
The other side of the coin, however, is that if Alonso had found his swing earlier, maybe the Mets wouldn’t have been sellers at the trade deadline and would be in the heart of the NL wild-card race.
Of course, the wrist injury he suffered June 7 played a role, too, even if Alonso didn’t use it as an excuse.
He was projected to be out for at least a month and came back far sooner, though in hindsight, maybe that wasn’t the right decision.
From April 22-July 19, the 28-year-old was a shell of his usual self.
In 66 games, he produced a slash line of .172/.280/.408 with 16 home runs and 39 RBIs.
He called that span “definitely the worst of my big league career.”
“No one’s [not] susceptible in the league to going through a rough patch. There’s no higher league,” said Alonso, who hit four home runs and drove in 10 runs in the Mets’ series victory over the Cubs this week at Citi Field. “I went through it, I went through a really bad patch this year.
“Also, there’s stuff I went through in the minor leagues that wasn’t as public. In 2017, I was like 9-for-70 to start my high [Single]-A career. … No player is immune to not struggling. We play a game of failure, and now the law of averages is starting to bounce in my favor.”
He has been hitting like the Alonso of old in recent weeks.
From July 20 through Wednesday, a span of 19 games, he hit his stride with a .333/.395/.792 slash line, nine home runs and 25 RBIs.
Using a more simplified approach, he is now on pace to finish with the second-most homers of his career, after he belted 53 his rookie year, and could get close to the career-best 131 RBIs he had last season.
His .854 OPS is creeping up to his yearly average of .879.
He has joined Albert Pujols, Eddie Mathews and Ralph Kiner as the only players in the MLB history with at least 35 HRs in four of their first five seasons in the majors.
“You can look at numbers and they don’t necessarily tell the whole journey of a season,” Alonso said. “That’s what people look to define a season, but for me the process of how I found success this year, it’s definitely different than years past.
“But that’s 2023, that’s just the hand I was dealt this year. I just want to keep progressing and keep getting better.”
By the time this season is over, Alonso is likely to finish close to his career norms.
But, as he said, this hasn’t been a normal season for him.
There have been stark peaks and valleys, one of many reasons the Mets find themselves playing out the string in early August.
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