Jeremy Barnes sees the same things everyone else does: Pete Alonso is not having a Pete Alonso season.
Alonso is on his way to career-lows in almost every offensive category besides homers and is in the midst of a particularly ugly stretch in which he’s hitless in 12 at-bats and is in the midst of a 1-for-26 funk with nine strikeouts.
“I told him (Wednesday), I know things aren’t going the way he wants them to go, I know he hasn’t had the at-bats he wanted to have and done better in the past,’’ the Mets hitting coach said prior to Wednesday’s 5-1 win over the White Sox at Citi Field, in which Alonso went 0-for-3 with a walk and run scored.
“But he’s still Pete Alonso.”
For much of this season, though, he hasn’t hit like it.
Ahead of Wednesday night’s game, his exit velocity of 88.9 MPH this year is the lowest of his career. According to Fangraphs, he’s hitting less line drives and hard-hit balls, as well as more grounders and fly balls.
And while he’s hit 26 homers, not much else has gone right.
Alonso has a .182 slugging percentage against off-speed pitches, compared to a .732 slugging percentage off the same pitches a year ago.
Alonso’s production has dipped against all pitches other than sliders and cutters.
But Barnes also noted a stat that could show that Alonso’s year-long issues aren’t as bad as they appear.
Alonso’s BABIP (batting average on balls in play) of .182 is the worst among all 148 qualified major league hitters.
It’s also the worst of Alonso’s career, since his career mark is .261.
“When he has done well, it hasn’t landed this year,” Barnes said. “He hits line drives and they find people. When you put that with the other parts of his game that haven’t clicked, it’s a rough combination.”
So the preparation continues behind the scenes.
“What I care about is the work that we’re doing and whether that’s good,’’ Barnes said. “And that’s been good.”
Asked if he sensed Alonso’s slump had gotten to him, Barnes said, “Only he can answer that. But I know he and a lot of guys on the team, they feel they are the guy. If he’s not doing well, I’m sure he’s feeling it.”
The focus now, according to Barnes, is simple.
“We’re just trying to get back to basics and nail back down the things we’ve had success with in the past,’’ Barnes said. “If we’re doing that before the game and then swinging at the right pitches and the process is right, I’ve got to believe it’s gonna happen out there.”
And not just with Alonso.
“We know the team hasn’t had the success we wanted so far this year and we’re very hopeful we’re moving in the right direction in a lot of areas,’’ Barnes said. “All of them, including Pete, need to just go out and have good at-bats and be himself.”
Certainly, some of it can be attributed to the bone bruise and sprained wrist he suffered in June, but while the numbers are even worse lately, the downward trend began in late April.
For the first three weeks of the season, the first baseman had a 1.047 OPS.
But since April 22, he’s hitting just .175, with a .693 OPS.