Welcome home! Alonso feels the love, gives it right back with HR in 1st AB

NEW YORK -- Before Pete Alonso returned to Citi Field on Friday, his prior visit there had loomed as potentially his final one as a Met. Leaving the ballpark after National League Championship Series Game 5, Alonso was well aware of that possibility, mostly because it would have been impossible for him not to be. Multiple times over the final weeks of the season, media members had asked him about the chances of it.

The line of thinking made sense. Alonso, a longtime Met, was about to enter free agency for the first time in his career. Team officials did not seem as dedicated to the idea of re-signing him as they were to the concept of, say, inking Juan Soto to the largest contract in Major League history. Even deep into January, the Mets and Alonso didn’t necessarily seem destined for a reunion.

As this was ongoing, a significant contingent of local fans mourned the possibility of losing Alonso -- an imperfect player, perhaps, but a Met through and through.

Although only some of them could be among the 43,945 at Citi Field on Friday for the team’s home opener, the sentiment of the day was clear. As Alonso jogged out to the first-base foul line before the game, many of those fans offered him a loud, extended ovation.

About a half hour later, after Alonso hit a two-run homer to spark a 5-0 win over the Blue Jays, the home crowd cheered him vociferously enough to lure him back out of the dugout for a curtain call.

“That type of stuff is what you dream about as a kid,” Alonso said. “To have that kind of support being reciprocated, it’s really special. I enjoyed every second of it.”

From a narrow lens, Alonso’s performance in the Mets’ home opener was the continuation of his sharp start to the season. Easily the hottest Mets hitter since Opening Day, Alonso now has three home runs -- all three to straightaway center or the opposite field -- as well as two doubles, six walks, 10 RBIs and six runs scored. He ranks in the top five in the NL in both slugging and OPS, and his process has been as good as his results. Alonso entered Friday’s play leading the league in pitches per plate appearance (5.12), with a walk rate roughly twice as robust as his career norm and a strikeout rate about one-third as high.

“He’s locked in,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s not chasing. He’s laying off some tough pitches. He’s not missing pitches in the strike zone. And he’s using the whole field.”

From a wider lens, it’s easy to imagine a world in which Alonso might be doing this for somebody else. Mendoza laughed when asked about that possibility, saying: “I’m glad I don’t have to think about that.”

Part of the reason why the Mets continued to negotiate with Alonso, even after owner Steve Cohen publicly lambasted the talks, is because of what he brings to the team. After reporting to Spring Training on a record $765 million contract, Soto cited Alonso’s presence as a factor integral to his own success -- something coming in awfully handy now, at a time when opposing pitchers, according to one teammate, are treating Soto “a lot like Barry Bonds.”

It’s a renewal of vows that, as recently as early October, seemed somewhat unlikely. His go-ahead home run in the ninth inning of Wild Card Series Game 3 began to change the narrative, launching Alonso to a strong postseason and strengthening calls for his return. By January, a significant contingent of fans seemed eager to have him back.

Friday’s home run offered echoes of the one Alonso hit in Milwaukee -- an outside pitch that Alonso powered just over the wall in right. Only this time, when Alonso hit it, the stadium did not go pin-drop quiet. Citi Field exploded into a cacophony of noise.

“It was sick,” was how Alonso described it.

“That’s why they call him the Polar Bear,” added Soto. “Tremendous power.”

While it’s not yet clear if this is merely a brief hot streak to open the season for Alonso, or the start to a potentially memorable summer, the ingredients for the latter are certainly there.

“This is home for him,” Francisco Lindor said. “He definitely feels very comfortable here. To see how the fans embrace him, to see how he embraces the fans, it’s super cool. It’s very cool to watch, and it’s special. We’re watching one of the best power hitters in this game.”