Pete Alonso powers Mets to series win over Mariners, and how DJ Stewart might be a fit going forward

The Mets took two of three from the red hot Mariners while playing a spoiler role in the race for the AL West title

Linda Surovich

Sep 04, 2023

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

The Mets defeated the Mariners 6-3 to take the series from Seattle (box)
Tylor Megill was solid and gave up three runs in 5.1 innings while striking out six
Mets pitching struck out thirty-six batters this series which is the most they recorded in a three-game series all season
Jeff McNeil went 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs scored
Ronny Mauricio went 1-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base
This was the team’s first series win since defeating the Cardinals back on August 17-20. The Mets are 16-24-4 in series, 11-10-1 in series at home, 7-10 in rubber games, 54-2 when leading after eight innings, 43-19 when scoring five or more runs, 8-7 against the AL West, and 21-26 since the All-Star Game

💣🐻‍❄️ Polar Power 🐻‍❄️💣

Pete Alonso went 3-for-4 with two home runs, four RBIs, and two runs. This was his fifth multi-homer game this season which is tied for third-most in the majors and tied for fourth-most by a Met in a single season.
He has 19 multi-homer games for his career which is third-most in franchise history
He is the fifth player in major league history with three or more seasons of 40 or more homers in their first five years, joining Ralph Kiner, Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols, and Eddie Mathews
His three seasons of 40 or more home runs are tied with Mike Trout and Nolan Arenado for the second-most among active players
18 of his home runs this season have had an exit velocity of 110mph or faster which places him second in the majors in that category. Only Shohei Ohtani has hit more
He is the fourth player in Mets history to record three or more seasons
with 100 or more RBI joining David Wright, Darryl Strawberry, and Carlos Beltran
Alonso has eight games this season with four or more RBIs which leads the majors

Injury Updates 🏥

Starling Marte (groin) is hoping to avoid the same core muscle surgery he had last winter (New York Post)
Mark Vientos (chronically sore foot) expects to return to the lineup against the Nationals on Tuesday

Prospect Watch 🔎

SS Luisangel Acuña (No. 1 prospect, Double-A Binghamton): 2-for-4, 2 RBI
SS Jett Williams (No. 3 prospect, Single-A Brooklyn): 2-for-4, RBI, 2 R
OF Ryan Clifford (No. 6 prospect, Single-A Brooklyn): 3-for-5, HR, 3 RBI, R

Today’s Game 🗓

The Mets will enjoy an off day before heading to Washington to face the Nationals on Tuesday.

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DJ Stewart has been awesome, but how does he fit into the team’s plans in 2024? ✍️

Could DJ Stewart be cementing a spot on the Mets roster in 2024?

Over the past two weeks, DJ Stewart has been one of the hottest Mets on the team, and one of the hottest hitters in baseball with a .309/.367/.800 line and eight home runs and sixteen RBIs to go along with it. He is sporting a .971 OPS for the season overall while hitting one home run every 11.4 plate appearances. In addition, he has come up clutch for this team over the last week or so with multiple run-saving catches while hitting two home runs and walking the Rangers off with a hit-by-pitch last week.

He has been a fun story for this club, but is he a solution for this club going forward?

Recency bias might be putting a rose tint on on fans glasses since he was batting as low as .171/.300/.293 with an OPS of .593 as recently as August 13. He is a career .222 hitter, having never put together any sort of sustained success at the major league level with Baltimore.

From 2018-2022, he hit .213/.327/.400 with the Orioles with 26 home runs and 73 RBI in 195 games. He did hit well in the minors in years past and hit as many as 21 home runs in Double-A, so his pop in the majors should come as no surprise.

Perhaps with more playing time, his familiarity with Buck Showalter, and just some overall growth and maturity. something has finally clicked for the 29-year-old Stewart. If anything, he deserves a shot to be on the roster next season as a left-handed power bat and a utility outfielder.

Too often, the Mets have enjoyed a “Kevin Maas experience” in September among players they’ve called up from the minors, a month which is only a smaller sample size against bigger rosters (not 40 anymore, thank goodness) which can warp a player’s production both positively and negatively. Simply put, even if Stewart gets 200 plate appearances in 2023, the sample can’t be used as a reliable metric to forecast his performance in 2024.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t or won’t be a part of the solution by any means. He’s been a positive influence and a positive story in a wasted season for the Mets, and that’s something they can certainly hang their hat on.

But it also suggests the Mets simply have to beef up that part of the roster if they plan to be a contender in 2024.

The Mets should look for other options in case he really is the hitter Baltimore saw for five years and not the one the Mets saw these past two weeks.

Around the League 🚩

There is now a four-way tie for the third wild card spot in the National League - The Diamondbacks lost two out of three to the Orioles, the Marlins swept the Nationals and have won four games in a row, the Giants were swept by the Padres, and the Reds just lost two out of three to the Cubs. Arizona, Miami, and San Francisco are all 70-67 for the year and Cincinnati is 71-68 for the year
The Orioles are reportedly promoting 19-year-old Jackson Holliday to Triple-A
Shohei Ohtani stole his 20th base of the year to become the first Angel to hit 40 home runs and steal 20 bases in a season
Jasson Domínguez hit is second career home run to help power the Yankees to a series sweep over the Astros
The Dodgers salvaged the final game of their four game series against the Braves with a 3-1 win in LA - Mookie Betts went 3-for-4 with an RBI and now has a 1.025 OPS for the year
Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell struck out twice in his two plate appearances with the Savannah Bananas, and danced with teammates in front of fans (with Curtis Granderson in attendance) at Historic Grayson Stadium in Savannah