Reporter details how 'external help' helped Pete Alonso become MVP of 2025 Mets

Previous stories noted how New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso spent portions of the offseason working to improve his hitting after he had to settle for signing a two-year, $54M contract with a player opt-out after this season to stay with the Mets in February. 

For a piece published on Sunday night, Will Sammon of The Athletic detailed how Alonso has been completing some extra homework assignments while serving as the Mets' overall most valuable player this spring. 

"For the first time in his seven-year career," Sammon wrote, "Alonso is using external help to assist him with research, digest data and create personal plans against pitchers. The information comes from people affiliated with his agent, Scott Boras, and from people at his Tampa, Fla.-based workout group, Diesel Optimization, among others. ...Every day before he leaves for the ballpark, Alonso goes over how pitchers might plan to attack him and what to look for in certain counts and situations. This work supplements the preparation Alonso does with the Mets."

Alonso reportedly rejected a seven-year, $158M contract extension offer from the Mets during the 2023 season and then seemed to press at the plate throughout the 2024 campaign while in a walk year. The slugger who turned 30 years old in December slashed .240/.329/.459 with a .788 OPS, 34 home runs and 88 RBI over 162 regular-season games last year. 

To compare, ESPN stats show that Alonso entered Monday's off day leading the Mets with 17 homers, 61 RBI and a .990 OPS on the season. Across his first 66 games of the ongoing campaign, he slashed .301/.396/.594. 

According to Baseball Savant, Alonso ended Sunday ranked third in all of MLB with a .438 expected weighted on-base average. New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge had a league-best .473 xwOBA at that time.  

"Even just outside of the planning that way we do, he has invested in himself and gotten outside help as well, and that’s great," Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo said about Alonso. "It’s definitely a change. It’s definitely made a difference. I don’t know how much because he’s worked on so many different things, but (it’s delivering) the result you’re seeing. He has really buckled down, and it’s paying off."

While Mets outfielder Juan Soto hasn't yet lived up to the expectations many had for him when he signed a 15-year, $765M contract this past offseason, Alonso is a big reason the Amazins began Monday with a National League-best record of 42-24. The Mets did well to re-sign Alonso on a deal that currently looks like a bargain for the club, but the "Polar Bear" could become the subject of a big-money bidding war if he hits the open market this coming fall.