David Lennon: Ex-Met Pete Alonso takes high road when talking about former club at Yankee Stadium
The Orioles' Pete Alonso follows through on his second-inning home run against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Friday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Life could be better for Pete Alonso.
One month into his Orioles career, he showed up Friday in the Bronx hitting .198 with four homers and a .688 OPS. The Baltimore team that was supposed to challenge for AL East supremacy — in large part due to giving Alonso a five-year, $155 million contract — was below .500 (15-16) and already five games behind the first-place Yankees.
That said, Alonso still has one big thing going for him: At least he’s not on the Mets.
On Friday night, he was restored to the height of his powers by the New York stage, smashing a homer off Will Warren, a 107-mph shot that sailed over the rightfield short porch, in the second inning of the Yankees’ 7-2 victory. It was Alonso’s eighth homer in his 78th plate appearance at the Stadium, and if there were any Mets fans present to cheer their beloved Polar Bear, that faction was drowned out by a smattering of boos.
As for the Mets, Alonso isn’t the type to gloat about his old team’s demise. He was a homegrown Met, had seven memorable seasons in Flushing and walked away with the franchise’s home run record as a parting gift. Alonso has a few friends on the current roster, too.
If anyone ever had the opportunity to fire back at a former employer, it’s Alonso, who was designated early on by president of baseball operations David Stearns as part of the Mets’ problem, the brick-glove enemy to his grand “run prevention” scheme. Instead, Stearns’ winter makeover has become an unmitigated disaster. One of its most crippling holes? The lack of a power-hitting first baseman.
Naturally, Alonso was asked before Friday’s game what he made of the Mets’ offseason shakeup, which produced a 10-21 record at the start of May and, with a price tag of $370 million, is well on its way to becoming the most expensive bust in baseball history.
“On paper, that’s not good,” Alonso said. “But I remember in 2024 things were very bleak and whatever from an outside perspective. Baseball is a long season. It’s a marathon. And you look back at the 2024 Mets, that could be a perfect example of yeah, it’s bad, but there’s five months left in the season. There’s always time.”
Those ’24 Mets had Alonso, of course, and a core that was radically different from this year’s underachieving group, one that’s been plagued by injuries and subpar performance. Alonso was just being nice in bringing up that crew, which was 11 games under .500 on Memorial Day but rallied to push the Dodgers to Game 6 of the NLCS.
So Alonso resisted taking the easy swipe at Stearns during Friday’s 13-minute conversation with the media, probably because he has his own issues to worry about.
If he were on a burner like April 2025 — when he started his free-agency sales pitch with seven homers, 28 RBIs and a 1.132 OPS through the first 31 games — maybe he would have chosen to flex a little at the Mets’ demise, as justified as that would be.
But Alonso isn’t in that position. Ironically, what he’s done best for the Orioles to this point is play a solid first base, and his four defensive runs saved (DRS) at that spot are tied for second best in the majors with Boston’s Willson Contreras (Atlanta’s Matt Olson is first with five). Alonso also ranks fourth in outs above average with two.
The Mets’ revolving door at first base is fourth from the bottom, totaling a minus-2.
You’d expect Alonso to snap out of this early offensive funk, and at season’s end, he’ll likely have his 30-plus homers and be in the 100-RBI neighborhood. He still is in the 96th percentile when it comes to average exit velocity (94.8 mph) and hard-hit percentage (55.4), so the results should come before too long.
Sometimes the weight of a hefty contract piled high with raised expectations can be particularly heavy from the jump.
“I’ve had a couple moments,” Alonso said. “But overall, for me, disappointing.”
Said Orioles manager Craig Albernaz: “He’s showing flashes of the Pete Alonso we all know and love. To me, it’s probably just getting used to the change of scenery but also getting into the flow of the season as well.”
Seeing Alonso wearing an Orioles uniform, with the flailing Mets in total disarray, paints a picture of regret — really for both sides. It didn’t have to be this way. For owner Steve Cohen to shell out for baseball’s second-highest payroll and have Stearns convince him not to pay the productive and popular Alonso will never make sense, especially now that the Mets have cratered.
Instead, Alonso left for Baltimore without as much as a counteroffer. He never spoke to anyone in the front office upon his departure, but he did chat with Carlos Mendoza and some former teammates who also live in Tampa. Alonso suggested it meant more “having that respect from the guys I was going to battle with every day, whether it be the manager or other players.”
Ultimately, Alonso had to turn to the Orioles to get that respect again, and now New York is just another stop on the road. On Friday, he mentioned some special non-baseball memories — the birth of his son Teddy at Manhattan’s Mount Sinai Hospital was among that A-list — and he also gave a shout-out to his favorite city chef (Hillary at Ci Siamo).
“I’m in the perfect place for me,” Alonso said.
And certainly one that’s more preferable than Citi Field these days.
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.
