June 2023 is a month the Mets and their fans will want to forget, but Pete Alonso is especially feeling it.
The slugging first baseman slashed .152/.222/.364 with four home runs and nine RBI in June. He entered the month with a .238 batting average, 20 home runs and 46 RBI and was arguably one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball.
Alonso did miss some time with a wrist sprain earlier in the month, but returned faster than many believed he would. However, that only compounded his feelings towards the last 30 days.
“I’m having probably the worst month I’ve ever had in the big leagues,” Alonso said after Friday’s 5-4 loss of the Giants. “For me, this month has been tough. It’s just been a tough month. I just want to do the best I can to perform. .. I demand better for myself. I expect myself to perform better. It’s just frustrating that this past month I haven’t. It’s not fun.”
Alonso said this month was probably the most frustrating of his career and Friday’s game perfectly encapsulated his feelings. Alonso not only went 0-for-4 but his fielding misplay and throwing error cost the Mets an out in the eighth inning that shifted the game.
What would have been the second out, instead put a runner on. A walk later from the team’s best closer David Robertson, and a Patrick Bailey a three-run homer put the Mets down a run, a deficit they wouldn’t be able to come back from.
Alonso explained that the ball “snaked” at him. And although he did the right thing to keep the ball in front of him and not squirt into the outfield, he rushed the throw to a covering Robertson when he didn’t need to.
“I just want to help the team win,” Alonso said. “We haven’t been able to win ball games and me not performing doesn’t help either.”
The Met first baseman let his emotions show throughout Friday’s game. He snapped his bat over his knee after a pop out in the fifth inning, and let out an exasperated sigh and closed his eyes moments after the three-run homer in the eighth.
Manager Buck Showalter was asked after the game about Alonso’s show of emotion and defended his star.
“I’m fine with that. They care a lot,” he said. “You guys don’t see near what goes on in meetings – that’s what keeps everybody thinking positively. They’re all wanting to know why. We’ve got to figure out the reasons why.
“Pete cares a lot. I hurt for him and for the people who pull so hard for us and we have to get it going.”
As the calendar turns to July, the Mets finished June with a 7-19 record, scoring just 4.42 runs per game with a starting pitcher ERA of 4.41. Also, they’ve blown 13 leads in that span.
The Mets are a season-worst 10 games below .500, 18.5 games behind the NL East-leading Braves and 10 games out of the third and final Wild Card spot, a far cry from the expectations this team had in the preseason.
“Our goal to start the year was to make the playoffs, make it farther than we did last year, compete and win the World Series,” Alonso said. “We haven’t played championship baseball. We’ve played hard, well at times, but we haven’t been able to sync it up together. It’s a tough pill to swallow.”
The Mets will look to start July strong when Justin Verlander takes the mound against the Giants on Saturday.