Cincinnati Reds: Eugenio Suárez and Pete Alonso to meet as Mets visit

A debut season to remember

What more can you say about Mets rookie first baseman Pete Alonso? He leads the majors with 49 home runs. His 113 RBIs and .590 slugging rate rank fifth in the National League. For good measure, Alonso also places seventh with a .956 OPS and his 66 free passes is good enough for ninth in the senior circuit. Whew.

However, the accolades don’t end there. His 49 round trippers are a NL rookie record and he’s tied Mark McGwire for second on the all-time list for home runs by a rookie. Entering play Friday, Alonso is just three behind Aaron Judge‘s record of 52 established during the 2017 season. In addition, Alonso’s 49 homers are a Mets single season record.

Alonso is also closing in on other Mets records as well. His 328 total bases on the season are just six behind David Wright‘s club record set in 2008. One more extra base hit will break a three-way tie with Carlos Beltran and Howard Johnson for the most in team history.

Pete Alonso also has an outside shot of setting the Mets RBI record. Sitting at 113 RBIs, Alonso is 11 behind the single season mark held by both David Wright and Mike Piazza. What a year this rookie is having, huh?

Shortly after the season, Alonso will join an elite group of players in Mets history. The 24-year-old slugger will be the runaway winner for the NL Rookie of the Year Award. He will become the first Mets position player to win the award since Darryl Strawberry in 1983. He will join Strawberry, Tom Seaver, Jon Matlack, Dwight Gooden and Jacob deGrom as Mets NL Rookie of the Year recipients. Elite class indeed.