NEW YORK -- Friday marked Pete Alonso’s first trip back to Citi Field since Game 5 of the National League Championship Series -- a game that, at the time, had the potential to be his last as a Met.
Fast forward through an offseason of drama and there was Alonso, back at Citi Field, giving fans a curtain call moments into his return in a 5-0 win over the Blue Jays. Alonso homered in his first home at-bat of the season, prompting a return to the field so he could raise his helmet to the crowd, both fists in the air.
Before the game, Alonso had received one of the loudest ovations from the Queens crowd, along with Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto. Lindor was the team’s MVP last season, while Soto signed a record $765 million contract over the winter. Alonso, of course, re-signed with the Mets late in the offseason to a two-year, $54 million deal with an opt-out after 2025.
Two batters after Lindor opened the bottom of Friday’s first inning with a double (as well as a “My Girl” singalong), Alonso powered a Kevin Gausman fastball off the outer edge of the strike zone over the right-field fence for his third home run.
Easily the hottest Mets hitter early this season, Alonso has directed all three of his homers to right or center field. He entered Friday’s play leading the National League in pitches per plate appearance (5.12), with a walk rate roughly twice as high as his career norm and a strikeout rate about one-third as high. Alonso also has three of the four hardest-hit extra-base hits in the NL and, at the time of his homer, ranked second in the NL in both slugging and OPS.