At Pete Alonso’s current red-hot rate, Darryl Strawberry’s Mets record of 252 career home runs has approximately one month of its 35-year reign remaining.
The slugging first baseman moved into sole possession of second place on the franchise’s all-time home-run list past David Wright on Sunday with a two-tater afternoon during a 13-5 demolition of the lowly Rockies in Colorado.
He tied the legendary third baseman, whose number will be retired on July 19, when he pulled Chase Dollander’s sinking cutter just over the left-center-field wall in the top of the third inning.
In the eighth, he took second place all to himself when he turned on Tyler Kinley’s inside fastball and snuck it just inside the left-field foul pole. His 23rd multi-home-run game also moved him past Strawberry for the most in team history.
“It’s really cool,” Alonso said of passing Wright. “For me, I just want to help the team win every single chance I get. My game is just riving the ball and doing what I can to score guys… I just try to do my part. I’m very blessed to do so, but I don’t think that this is really going to settle in because we’re still in the middle of the season. Right now, it’s just focused on winning.”
Wright himself had a message waiting for the slugging first baseman.
“Huge congratulations,” Wright, who appeared in 14 seasons with the Mets from 2004 to 2018, said. “You are one of the premier power hitters in the game. You easily passed me. Set Straw in your sights and now go get him.”
With 243 career home runs, Alonso is now just nine away from tying Strawberry’s mark, which he set during an eight-year stint with the Mets from 1983 to 1990. With the way he’s going right now, it feels as though that record will topple in no time.
The Polar Bear has six home runs with 18 RBI in his last eight games — a hot streak that has revitalized his statline to an All-Star caliber line of .301/.396/.594 (.990 OPS) with 17 round-trippers and a league-leading 61 RBI.
“There’s a lot to like about his game right now,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Just dominating pitches in the strike zone. That’s who he is, man. We know the power’s always been there. Now we’re looking at a really good pitcher who knows his strengths.”
Strawberry has already made it known that he is one of Alonso’s biggest supporters in toppling his mark.
“Some guys can sit here and don’t want players to break their records, but I hope players break my record because that means I have done something and you have done something, too,” Strawberry said back in January. “[Alonso] has done that. He has performed at that level.”
