The New York Mets struggled on offense during the first month of the season, but they’ve recently received a lift from a mysterious figure.
After the Mets’ 5-4 win on May 1, first baseman Pete Alonso credited a “new hire,” Donnie Stevenson, for helping the team. Alonso said the mysterious Stevenson “really helped us today” in his new role as “hitting/approach coach.” This was fairly confusing, as the Mets hadn’t made any new hires, and nobody had ever heard of Stevenson before.
It turns out, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Alonso was referring to himself. The Mets’ first baseman wore a hat and sunglasses to that day’s hitters’ meeting and appeared in character as “Stevenson.” He urged his teammates to relax and stop over-thinking at the plate. The players apparently loved it, and the Mets ended up winning 5-4 on a Michael Conforto ninth-inning home run. They’re 7-2 since, and now lead the NL East.
Sometimes it’s easy to fall into a routine or a rut during a long baseball season, and things like this are needed. Credit to Alonso for the creative idea that actually seems to have helped.
At the very least, this Mets story is one they’d rather have in the news than another weird one that has hovered around the team for the last few days.
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