One of the big moves this offseason in MLB was when former Florida slugger Pete Alonso opted to leave the New York Mets and sign a five-year, $155 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles. The move hasn’t really worked out for either party, as the Mets are awful and Alonso is currently sporting the lowest OPS of his career.
But the Polar Bear does have some positives going for him that could signal an eventual turnaround, including a mastery of one of the hot topic rule changes in MLB this season.
Pete Alonso has figured out ABS
Alonso is currently on pace for 88 walks on the season, which would smash his previous career high of 70. So while his batting average is at a career low .215, his OBP of .320 isn’t too far off his career average of .340.
One thing that Alonso has done well is adapt to the ABS challenge system. As of May 4, Alonso has five successful challenges and six total attempts. His five challenge wins are the 6th most among all batters in MLB, and his success rate of 83% is the 3rd best in the league. He is currently on track for 23 successful challenges on the season.
Alonso can use every little bit of help he can get, as his OPS is currently sitting at .735. That’s currently 86th in MLB among qualified hitters. Part of the problem for Alonso, since arriving in Baltimore, is that he is hitting way more groundouts than he ever has. As is stands right now, Alonso has more groundouts than flyouts, which would also be the first time in his career that has been the case. He is also on pace to hit under 30 home runs for the first time, not counting the shortened 2020 season.
In 2016, Alonso went .374/.469/.659 with 14 home runs to help Florida make it to the College World Series.
He was drafted by the Mets in the 2nd round of the 2016 MLB Draft and made his MLB debut in 2019.
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