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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.
New York Times
19-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Twins camp changes: How and why Rocco Baldelli restructured spring workouts
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Only two days in, several prominent veteran players lauded the restructured, fundamentally focused spring training camp run by Twins manager Rocco Baldelli. Now in year seven as the team's manager, Baldelli and his coaching staff are shaking things up by preparing the position players differently for the regular season. Advertisement Daily practice sessions now begin an hour earlier and position players work together on the same field more frequently. Previously, they separated into smaller groups with a greater focus on individual drills. With more emphasis on hitting fundamentals and better situational play, the Twins hope working as a group can be a catalyst for improvement. 'It's now mandatory,' shortstop Carlos Correa said. 'With this structure that we have, everybody has to be outside, everybody has to go out for (batting practice). Everybody has to be taking ground balls with the team. Everybody has to run every day because it pushes everybody. That's exactly what we need.' Asked about the team's late-season collapse and the influence it's having on spring camp, Baldelli clearly would prefer to look forward. He's pleased with the way his players conducted themselves during the offseason and feels their preparation was top-notch. But in surveying the changes to how this camp is being operated, it's hard to not see the fingerprints of a 12-27 stretch that sank the 2024 Twins from a sure postseason team to missing the playoffs. A year ago, the Twins spent much of their mornings in meetings, taking the field to begin work at 11 a.m., but this spring, they're outside between 10 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. The team's pitchers are preparing as they always have, but position players are now required to stretch, take batting practice, run the bases and work on defensive drills together. Batting practice under new hitting coach Matt Borgschulte also is structured differently. The first two of five rounds are dedicated to hitting the opposite way. Round three is focused on hitting line drives. Hitters determine how they approach the final two rounds. Though they finished 10th in the majors in runs scored with an average of 4.6 runs per game, the Twins batted .228/.292/.354 with 31 homers over their final 39 games. The Twins were only 12-36 (.250) in games in which they didn't homer, including 2-16 over the final 39 contests. By comparison, all 30 teams combined for a .316 winning percentage in homeless games, according to STATS Perform. With Borgschulte as hitting coach, the Baltimore Orioles were 13-27 (.325) in games in which they didn't homer. Advertisement 'I hope it makes us a better situational baseball team, and I don't necessarily mean the bunting and hitting-and-running type of situational,' Baldelli said. 'I'm talking about thinking along with the games, knowing when to do one thing and knowing when to do another thing, knowing when to shorten up and when that's going to bring us where we need to be.' Baldelli agreed on Tuesday he's a little firmer with a roster that includes a mishmash of veterans and young position players trying to establish themselves. He provided a glimpse of that taskmaster version of himself at the conclusion of an ugly series sweep at Kansas City last September, calling the team's effort 'unprofessional.' Several key players liked the message they heard from Baldelli then and see similarities in the sterner voice he's using early in camp. 'I think he realizes what we've been doing, we were good, but we weren't able to find the medicine to put everything together,' catcher Ryan Jeffers said. 'The ability to constantly communicate, have fun on the field, go run around in the outfield, shag some balls, run some bases as a unit — you get to have conversations you wouldn't always have if half the team's in the cage, some of the team is in the weight room, some of the team is in the field. … I think there's some value in doing the little things together on the field.' Jeffers likes the structure of set times for batting practice and how players must communicate with the coaching staff if they want to set up extra work beyond their daily drills. He also thinks it's easier to motivate players on a task like hitting to the opposite field if everyone's participating versus working in smaller groups. 'Seeing other guys (execute drills) in front of you gives you a little more (motivation), 'Now it's my turn,'' Jeffers said. Carlos Correa taking hacks in the cage. #MNTwins — DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) February 17, 2025 Baldelli is pleased with the group's energy in camp. It doesn't hurt to have buy-in from the team's foremost players. Using the analogy of how different it is to putt indoors versus on a putting green in the elements, Baldelli likes requiring his players to take outdoor BP this season, something that wasn't mandatory in the past. Advertisement Though Correa prefers to take most of his BP indoors, he's on board with hitting on the field with teammates. The veteran shortstop also noted that if Baldelli asks him to play in early spring training road games, he'd sign up for that, too. 'Rocco put together a great plan for us to be more structured, be more together, be everything as a unit,' Correa said. 'I appreciate that very much. That's the type of work that I like. … We can see everybody swing and give them cues that might have worked for me. Nothing is as good as during BP. When we are taking ground balls together, I can help and all the guys can help me with things that they see. It just brings everybody together. Closer and closer as opposed to just everybody in the clubhouse on their phone. It's beautiful to watch and I'm glad we are doing it this year.'
