Polar Power & Polar Plunge
Pete Alonso has had a bearish batting average this season while blasting into home run history
We Can Pod It Out is on a holiday-week break, but earlier this year, we looked at Pete Alonso’s low average and high OPS – then .239 and .900, respectively – and, well, it didn’t turn around in the way we expected, because that’s how the 2023 Mets season has been.
Still, we can have some fun, like on Sunday, when Alonso hit his 40th and 41st home runs of the season, claiming half the 40-dinger seasons in Mets history now, his three matching the combined total of everyone else who’s ever played in Queens (and the two years at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan), specifically Todd Hundley in 1996, Mike Piazza in 1999, and Carlos Beltrán in 2016.
Alonso has hit .215 since May 26, with 22 home runs, but still a .822 OPS – the average, though, is down to .225. This season has dropped Alonso’s career OPS by six points, to .878, and he’s going to have his highest strikeout total since whiffing 183 times as a rookie.
For what it’s worth, the other surprising and disappointing low average/high OPS guy in May was Juan Soto at .262/.917, and since then, he’s put up .258/.868 for a Padres team that has underachieved every bit as much as the Mets.
Now that Alonso has 40 homers, he’s almost assured of a spot on the bottom 10 list for batting average in a season with that many dingers.
The list…
Adam Dunn, 2012 White Sox: .204, 41
Joey Gallo, 2018 Rangers: .206, 40
Gallo, 2017 Rangers: .209, 41
Kyle Schwarber, 2022 Phillies: .218, 46
Chris Carter, 2016 Brewers: .222, 41
Todd Frazier, 2016 White Sox: .225, 40
Alonso, currently: .225, 41
Curtis Granderson, 2012 Yankees: .232, 43
Dunn, 2006 Reds: .234, 40
Dunn, 2008 Reds/Diamondbacks: .236, 40
José Canseco, 1998 Blue Jays: .237, 46
At the start of this century, the list was Canseco, Harmon Killebrew for the 1959 Senators and 1962 Twins, Jay Buhner in 1997, and Gorman Thomas in 1979. Now the entire bottom 10 will be players since 2006. One thing for Alonso: if he keeps his strikeouts under 163, he’ll have the fewest in the group.
If you want a list that’s not going to change anytime soon, try this one: most home runs in a season with more dingers than strikeouts…
Johnny Mize, 1947 Giants: 51-42
Lou Gehrig, 1934 Yankees: 49-31
Ted Kluszewski, 1954 Reds: 49-35
Gehrig, 1936 Yankees: 49-46
Kluszewski, 1955 Reds: 47-40
Joe DiMaggio, 1937 Yankees: 46-37
Barry Bonds, 2004 Giants: 45-41
Mel Ott, 1929 Giants: 42-38
Kluszewski, 1953 Reds: 40-34
Mize, 1948 Giants: 40-37