While New York Mets fans were stoked to see slugger Pete Alonso return to the team on a two-year, $54 million deal in February (which includes a player opt-out after the first year), even the most optimistic likely would not have predicted that the Polar Bear would get off to as hot of a start as he has this season.
Heading into the Mets’ May 9 game against the Chicago Cubs, Alonso is hitting .328 with a 1.085 OPS, 9 home runs, and 34 RBIs. And anybody who has watched him play knows that these numbers are no fluke, as it seems like he’s making hard contact with every at-bat.
If there’s one person who doesn’t seem surprised about Alonso’s 2025 campaign, it’s his agent, Scott Boras. This was conveyed through comments that Buster Olney relayed during a May 7 episode of the Baseball Tonight with Buster Olney podcast, which was relayed through a May 9 article from Jimmy Hascup of NJ.com.
“Pete that we knew as we took over his representation, had extraordinary bat speed — Aaron Judge-like,” Boras was quoted as saying.
“The key was advancing the idea of staying inside the ball and utilizing the opposite field with his remarkable bat speed, and that would produce great production and intimidate pitchers. The trust of his bat speed to stay inside the ball approach has landed, and his selectivity and walk rate [have] dramatically responded,” he continued.
Hascup noted in his article that Alonso’s current walk rate of 15.4% and his strikeout percentage of 17.2% are both the best of his career, which further proves Boras’ sentiment.
What’s for sure is that if Alonso can keep this going, he is going to command a ton of money in free agency this offseason.
