Alonzo of The Mets knocks ‘em out of the parks

But first the sportswriters’ analyses.

85. Um, I think the SI writers were doing this at 3:36 AM on Monday already Tuesday. Khris Davis, 85????? Ok, fine, he’s batting .247 for five straight seasons, not exactly Ty Cobb but Ty Cobb didn’t hit 40 something homers a year, Davis does. When I think AL power, I think Davis or Judge, this season, Khris is leading the AL in homers, tied with Yelich. Ok, he’s not exactly a five-tool player so I can see where he’s coming from but he has crazy good power. He’s a clutch guy, he drives in runs one way or another. I can definitely see where SI is coming from now but I always love power. He’s only 30 and his power isn’t going down. He’s not 85, but I would put him at about mid-to-high 50s.

84. I can’t stress this enough, Dallas Keuchel has to be signed by the Mets. The Mets are struggling in their rotation currently and Keuchel will definitely smack them into shape. A veteran who will guide the young-guns and the ones who are struggling. He’s getting a little old but his reputation is still really good but I don’t know how he’s still a free agent. His command is still elite with only 343 walks in his whole career, he’s only beaned 21 guys in his whole career. He’s frikin 65 Ks from 1,000 srikeouts, I think he’s still able to compete at a great level and pitch in the NL for the first time since the Astros moved to the AL in 2012. I think he has more value than he is given credit for, amazing pitcher, he should be around high 40s.

83. Even at Buster Posey’s age, he’s still overrated, let me give you an over view. He had a good arm, he was a good hitter for OBP and batting average, he was a good power hitter, he never had speed. The Giants are looking to make a push for fourth place in the NL West or even (this is a long shot) third place, I know, high hopes for the Giants. He could play catcher or first base, he’s a smart player, a thinking baseball player and I can’t say that for everyone. He’s a veteran who will make way for young guys and will guide them to play at their best and mentor them to assess their weaknesses and strengths. He doesn’t have a homer yet this year and only 13 hits this year. I think his career, sadly, is almost over and baseball will lose a veteran.

82. Robby Cano, a Met who, at 36, can still hit like he’s in the prime of his career. Cano is just straight amazing, the Brodie Van Waganen somehow stole him with Edwin Diaz. I actually love Robinson Cano, everyone knows what he could do (hit XBHs and dingers) and he proved himself already in New York, so New Yorkers know him, that will boost his ego and his fanbase. But what Cano is known for is the sneaky good OBP and knack for getting on with singles, really nice, no one notices it but the stat line shows it. He could drive in runs as well as Bryce Harper, and I can’t stress this enough he has the ability to put the ball on the bat a lot, one way or another. He’s old for a second baseman so pulling him over to the NL wasn’t a good choice for him because he can’t play second, he’s not a good fielder anymore, I mean, he can still field the routine grounders but no more Gold Gloves. I love this guy, big part of the Mets and I think he can rap out a few more years in his career, I mean, Julio Franco was a middle infielder and he played until he was 48. Editor’s note: Julio played first and DH when he was in his 40s but was known as a middle infielder.

81. Elite closer Craig Kimbrel is next on this list and I am astonished that no one signed him yet, some teams’ bullpens are so bad, I think right fielders in a Tee-Ball Little League circuit could pitch better. He has lights out stuff that is just straight up cold, his fastball blazes past hitters and the rest of his pitches dance past the hitters and they will never see those pitches again. He has a career 1.91 ERA in nine years, not many pitchers, let alone closers who can brag that they have that stat. His walks are high for closers but for pitchers who throw so hard, it’s hard to have good control. He only goes out there for about one inning a game so you could pitch him for 5 or 6 days and then rest him for a day or two. He is really good and because he’s a free agent they put him so far back, no, that doesn’t matter, he should be somewhere like low 40s on account of being a good closer.

From the ballpark. The Mets’ Peter Alonso is going to win Rookie of the Year hands down, but it will be a tight race with Fernando Tatis Jr. But Alonso will win Rookie of the Year. Eight homers already, crazy, leading rookies in baseball this season and tied for sixth in the MLB this season, Alonso is a huge, lumbering man, 6’ 3’’ 245 lbs., he has 30.6 body fat which just adds more leverage and power to his swing. He doesn’t have much speed, but putting the fat part of the bat on the ball and driving that poor ball far is his specialty. Mets rookies are really good this year, Jeff McNeil, uh, he’s really good, fourth best BA in MLB, fastest to reach 100 hits as a Mets rookie, producing power and speed at the bottom of the lineup, exactly what the Mets need.

Just because I feel like it, here are my early season predictions:

AL MVP: Mike Trout, I mean, it’s pretty much routine now, Mike is the best player in baseball and he’s the perfect combination of speed, hitting and fielding. I don’t think Mookie Betts will repeat because he’s just underperforming thus far in the season, 4 homers, 8 RBI and 1 SB, knock knock, is anyone at home?

AL Cy Young: Really, all eyes are pointing towards Gerrit Cole, insane SO guy, one of the few guys now that are consistent in all their starts. Amazing control, could go deep into games and gives up less than a hit per inning and here’s the kicker, he’s only 28. I don’t think Blake Snell will win again because he only won last time because my dead grandmother could pitch better than the rest of the AL pitchers. His control was always good but the consistency needs to be better.

AL Rookie of the Year: I think I have to go with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. because his bulky size and crazy power that comes out of will surely power him through the Rookie of the Year competition.

NL MVP: I think it’s time for Nolan Arenado to win MVP, it’s definitely his year, first it was Bryce Harper, then Stanton, then Kris Bryant and Yelich, it’s his time. He definitely isn’t looking like it this year, but about getting a hit in about ¼ of his abs. Of course he’s a Gold Glover, could field anything hit at him and could probably nab someone from the second deck of Citi Field at third base, that’s how good his arm is. Only 8 Ks this year, OK, now that’s good. I don’t think Yelich will win again because even though he on pace for about 95 homers this year. Yelich will eventually choke in the middle of the season and homers don’t decide the whole thing, it’s a mixture of everything. Yelich is young, he will have a lot more chances to win and he probably will. I don’t know why so many people are saying Paul Goldshmidt, he is good but all he could do is hit for base knocks and homers, that’s it.

NL Cy Young: It’s not going to DeGrom, it’s not going to Nola, I think it might be going to Scherzer, routine, again, this year is kind of a routine year. Scherzer is leading MLB in Ks, Ks aren’t everything but he’s performed really well, his pitches are devastating. It’s not DeGrom because even though his first two starts were stellar, his last two were not, he’s also on the IL, not that that matters but I just wanted to throw that out there. Nola isn’t going to win, he’s 2-0 with a 6.84 ERA and he’s already allowed 30 hits and 20 runs in just 5 starts, 37% of his batters faced got on base, which seems like a little, but it’s a lot.

NL Rookie of the Year: Pete Alonso, scroll up for my reasons.

I gotta say, poor Yankees for so many injuries, 13 players on the IL, the newest one, slugger Aaron Judge, not a slugging season for him this year with only 5 homers and 21 hits, one third of those hits were XBHs. The Mets have officially burned out, they started off strong but now they’re 11-10, almost 500, not good. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. might be called up soon as the Blue Jays really need a big bat as they’re struggling in their division. A tale of two sluggers, in the bottom of the 8^th, Christian Yelich would’ve hit his 14^th homer of the year and that would’ve eventually tied up the game later in the 9^th, but no, Bellinger steals the homer from over the fence and then hits one of his own to put the Dodgers up 6-5, real nice.

See you next week.