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New York Times
11 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
How Pete Alonso took his game planning to a new level: ‘Knowledge is power'
DENVER — Behind Pete Alonso's impressive offensive numbers this season is a serious improvement in game planning. 'He has taken that to the next level,' New York Mets co-hitting coach Jeremy Barnes said. That is because Alonso arrives at the ballpark more prepared than ever. For the first time in his seven-year career, Alonso is using external help to assist him with research, digest data and create personal plans against pitchers. The information comes from people affiliated with his agent, Scott Boras, and from people at his Tampa-based workout group, Diesel Optimization, among others. He explained it as something like a front office just for him. Alonso's ability to take information from a variety of sources speaks to his adaptiveness and growing intellect about his offensive game. PETE CAN'T STOP! ALL-STAR 🗳️👉 — New York Mets (@Mets) June 8, 2025 It's up to him to put what he learns into practice. And he continues to do just that in what's shaping up as his best season to date. In the Mets' 13-5 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday, Alonso went 3-for-6 with a pair of two-run home runs. He passed David Wright for second on the Mets' all-time list with 243 home runs. Only Darryl Strawberry (252) has hit more wearing a Mets uniform. Advertisement 'I'm just trying to look at everything I possibly can in-depth,' Alonso told The Athletic while discussing his new study sessions. 'And not just look at it. But really try to think and apply. 'It's not like an idea — I have a great picture. Every day, the whole thing is, I'm going to paint a picture of what it is going to look like coming at the plate.' While many players enlist the help of personal hitting or swing coaches, it is less common for a position player to consult with people outside the club for game planning purposes. It does happen, however. Every day before he leaves for the ballpark, Alonso goes over how pitchers may plan to attack him and what to look for in certain counts and situations. This work supplements the preparation Alonso does with the Mets. As a team, the Mets hold a daily hitters' meeting to go over approaches for that day's starting pitcher and other topics. 'It's big time,' Alonso said. 'It's been a tremendous help. Knowledge is power.' Alonso's terrific numbers (17 home runs, .301/.396/.594 slash line) through the Mets' first 66 games are a culmination of a few major improvements, including the heightened focus on game planning. As The Athletic previously detailed, Alonso wanted a better understanding of his inconsistencies in 2023 and 2024. That desire led to a deep dive into mechanics. Put simply, he is now in a better position to hit and discern what pitches he should swing at and which he should leave alone. 'He's as complete a hitter right now as I've ever seen him,' Barnes said. Hitting the books comes first, though. 'He's done his homework well before we've pumped out any information that we need to pump out,' Barnes said. 'To me, it's just him taking ownership in it a little bit more. 'He realizes how important it is. Before, he knew it was important, but he didn't have his identity. He didn't figure out how he wanted to do it. He's figured out what he needs to do now.' Advertisement Alonso is willing to pass along what he learns, too. He is vocal in the Mets' hitters' meetings. In the past, he always spoke up. But now, he is armed with sharper insight. 'This isn't a knock on Pete of the past, but when he speaks up, I find myself thinking, 'Wow. That's good. That's good information,'' Barnes said. 'Whereas before, he would say something, and you'd just laugh and say, well, that's Pete; sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. But he's on point this year. The lens that he is viewing the game through right now is high quality.' Over the weekend, the Rockies changed their probable starters a couple of times on short notice. Despite that, Alonso still managed to share a couple of pointers regarding the unexpected starters. 'Just from a veteran aspect, let's say even if I haven't faced a guy before, I can provide maybe a little bit of a nugget of information here and there,' Alonso said. 'For example, if I struggled that day or whatever, if I provide that information, maybe it helps somebody else. Before, it was like, OK, I can only really give little tidbits and things like that on guys I've faced before. Now, it's different.' Alonso's teammates see and hear the difference, too. Brandon Nimmo said he has spotted Alonso on plane rides watching extra video. Nimmo likened Alonso's prep work to a teacher working toward obtaining a master's degree. 'Even just outside of the planning that way we do, he has invested in himself and gotten outside help as well, and that's great,' Nimmo said. 'It's definitely a change. It's definitely made a difference. I don't know how much because he's worked on so many different things, but (it's delivering) the result you're seeing. He has really buckled down, and it's paying off.' Alonso, who can opt out and become a free agent after the season, may end up cashing in this offseason with a larger deal than the two-year, $54 million pact he signed to stick with the Mets just before spring training. Advertisement His ability to minimize a recent slump jumps out as another indicator of how different he is in 2025. Over a 15-game stretch from May 6 to May 23, he went 9-for-59 (.153 batting average) with 25 strikeouts and just four walks. In recent years, he was susceptible to prolonged cold streaks. Not now. Over his last 15 games, Alonso is 21-for-58 (.362 batting average) with eight home runs. The extra pre-game work comes in handy especially when diagnosing what pitchers are doing to him and how to combat their plan. 'It's trusting it, trusting that everything in the preparation is going to show up,' Alonso said. 'Mike Tyson said it. 'Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.' But in baseball, it's having that confidence, that assurance it will show up sometime in the game. Sometimes you have to weather it a little bit and stick with it, but I am trying to stay as diligent as possible. I just want to keep finding new levels to help me perform.' (Photo of Pete Alonso: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)
New York Times
15-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How Pete Alonso's plate discipline improved after his swing was ‘out of control' in 2024
So, Pete Alonso, how did you improve your decision-making in the batter's box so dramatically? 'We need probably about four beers and 2 1/2 hours to talk about it,' the New York Mets first baseman said, smiling. Four beers was out of the question for an earnest journalist seeking deeper truths. Two-and-a-half hours was out of the question for a top slugger preparing for another night of mashing. Advertisement The short version is that Alonso's spectacular first seven weeks — his top four OPS-plus entering Wednesday, his National League-leading 36 RBIs — are directly attributable to his improved plate discipline. Alonso, 30, did not suddenly gain a better understanding of the strike zone. He gained a better understanding of himself. 'I'm in control of my mechanics. I'm moving more efficiently. With that, I can see the ball better,' Alonso said. 'There's not as much wasted movement. I just see the ball better because I'm in a better spot mechanically.' Alonso hit a combined 80 home runs in 2023 and '24, but his OPS+ in each season was 23 percent above league average, compared to 40 percent above in his first four years. He rallied in the postseason to hit four homers and drive in 11 runs, but entered free agency still far from satisfied. As detailed by The Athletic's Will Sammon in early March, Alonso studied video to determine why his swing last season was, in his words, 'out of control.' He then worked out at Diesel Optimization in Tampa, putting what he learned into practice. 'My past two seasons, granted, I've had success, but it wasn't the type of success I feel like I'm capable of,' Alonso said. 'I'm not going to complain about my performance. Don't like it, play better. But for me, having a greater understanding of my swing, my mechanics, that has helped tremendously. 'To be honest, I really wanted to find a new level. Me just being competitive, I just didn't think I was reaching my potential with my process. I just felt like there's more meat on the bone, more inside I wasn't tapping into. I felt like I was operating at 80 percent.' This season, he is closer to realizing his full potential, at least so far. Mets hitting coach Eric Chavez noticed a difference in Alonso early in spring training, telling Sammon, 'It's the best I've ever seen him. I'm very, very optimistic that Pete is going to have a monster year.' Advertisement Bold predictions from hitting coaches are like campaign promises from politicians, often amounting to empty words. This time, though, Chavez was onto something. Alonso's .311 batting average, .421 on-base percentage and .584 slugging percentage all would represent career-highs by significant margins. The decline in his strikeout rate from 24.8 percent in 2024 to 20 percent in 2025 was the 14th largest in the majors, according to STATS Perform. The increase in his walk rate from 10.1 percent to 13.8 percent also was the 14th largest. Alonso, a right-handed hitter, was the only player to appear in the top 15 on both lists. And his numbers were even better before his past eight games, in which he has walked only twice and struck out 15 times. 'I always told him, 'You have 100 walks as soon as the year starts because you're Pete Alonso, or at least 80,'' Chavez said. 'But he should walk 100 times just because he's the biggest threat in the lineup. Now, obviously Juan (Soto) is there, too. But when Pete's on-base is .320, that's too low. He's too good of a hitter. He just was in bad positions, even though he was very strong and would do good things.' Chavez said in the spring that Alonso's transformation began with his hips, getting them into the correct position, holding them in that spot and firing them both at the right time and in the right direction. Now that he has less forward movement, he can better decipher pitches out of the hand. Alonso entered Wednesday with a .280 expected batting average and .508 expected slugging percentage against breaking balls, both well above his actual numbers and a major improvement from last season. Interestingly enough, he said he doesn't actually see spin, the rotation of a breaking ball. He detects those pitches by their shape, the hump in their movement after they pop out of a pitcher's hand. Advertisement 'Certain people can say, 'I see the dot.' I'm like, 'What are you talking about?'' Alonso said. '(Teammate Brandon) Nimmo, he'll say, 'I can see the rotation of the ball.' I'm like, 'Good for you.' For me, it's just recognizing pitch shape. If a ball moves a certain way, that's a slider.' In that respect, Alonso is not necessarily unusual. Chicago Cubs designated hitter Justin Turner, a 17-year veteran, said hitters identify those pitches three ways. The way Alonso does, by seeing the hump. The way Nimmo does, by picking up the red dot formed by the blur of the stitches. Or, the way Turner prefers, by the positioning of the pitcher's hand — a method that provides a hitter with the earliest possible recognition. Alonso also is crushing fastballs this season, as evidenced by his .314 expected batting average and .667 expected slugging percentage against them, both slightly lower than his actual numbers. To Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, two moments in early April stood out. The first was an opposite-field home run by Alonso off a 1-2 fastball down and away, just outside the zone, from Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman. The second was a homer to straightaway center in Miami off Marlins righty Calvin Faucher, off a 2-2 fastball on the outer edge to complete a nine-pitch at-bat. Even with his recent slowdown, Alonso is on a 34-homer, 136-RBI pace. He is within 17 homers of tying Darryl Strawberry for the Mets' all-time franchise record. And, after protracted negotiations with the Mets that resulted in a two-year, $54 million contract with a one-year opt-out, he is setting himself up to re-enter the free-agent market in much better position. The leading metrics even show an uptick in Alonso's defense — which, outside of his ability to scoop balls out of the dirt, never was considered a strength. Chavez recently saw Alonso go for a ball in a way he might not have last season, and told him all the work he does on his hips and balance is benefiting him in the field. 'He would move, and it was like a big body moving out of control,' Chavez said. 'Now it's a big body moving under control.' Four beers weren't necessary. A 2 1/2-hour explanation wasn't necessary. By gaining control of his movements, Alonso gained control of the strike zone. Became an even better version of himself by fixing his body to fix his mind.
