{"id":23902,"date":"2019-08-10T17:40:32","date_gmt":"2019-08-10T21:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonbaseball.com\/?p=23902"},"modified":"2019-09-21T04:36:02","modified_gmt":"2019-09-21T08:36:02","slug":"pete-alonso-rookie-season-seems-familiar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2019\/08\/10\/pete-alonso-rookie-season-seems-familiar\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Mets Pete Alonso Rookie Season Seems…Familiar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pete Alonso<\/strong><\/a> of the New York Mets<\/a> has taken Queens, and the rest of MLB for that matter, by storm. He and Jeff McNeil<\/a><\/strong> have been spark plugs at the top of the Met lineup, fueling their recent resurgence.<\/p>\n

Alonso has been having a rookie season for the ages, but something seems all to familiar about it. That is because, for the most part, it is mirroring that of his cross town rival. The comparisons to Aaron Judge<\/a><\/strong> of the New York Yankees<\/a>\u00a02017 rookie campaign are uncanny.<\/p>\n

The Similarities<\/h2>\n

Prospect Hype<\/h3>\n

Both players were well regarded prospects, and they both were ranked in the top-100 at one point prior to losing their prospect status. Alonso was ranked as high as 48th entering this season<\/a>, and Judge was ranked as high as 22nd before making his MLB debut<\/a> in 2016.<\/p>\n

That being said, neither player was regarded as a franchise changing type of prospect, that the likes of Ronald Acuna Jr.<\/a><\/strong>, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.<\/a><\/strong>, or Fernando Tatis Jr.<\/a><\/strong> garnered before their call-ups. Both players were expected to be good players and impact their teams, but not to the magnitude that they have thus far.<\/p>\n

Additionally, neither player was a lock to make the team out of Spring Training, but they played their way onto their respective rosters. Judge struggled (.179\/.263\/.345) in his brief 27-game stint with the Yankees at the end of 2016, leading some to believe he may not be ready for MLB. On the other hand, Alonso almost fell victim to service-time manipulation that would have kept him in Triple-A for the first few weeks of the season before winning his Opening Day start.<\/p>\n

Home Run Records<\/h3>\n

Both players are right handed hitters that can hit long home runs in any ballpark. This played into them both setting franchise records for home runs by a rookie. Not only that, but both set records before the All-Star break of their respective rookie seasons. They each surpassed franchise icons in the process, and both finished with 30 home runs in the first half.<\/p>\n

On June 23rd, Pete Alonso hit his 27th home run, passing Darryl Strawberry<\/a><\/strong>‘s rookie record for the Mets.<\/p>\n