Pete Alonso may not be on the Mets' Opening Day roster yet, but he's doing everything he can to make his case for a slot.MLB.com's No. 51 overall prospect continued his torrid spring by tripling and scoring a run in the Mets' 8-4 Grapefruit League victory over the Nationals in
Pete Alonso may not be on the Mets' Opening Day roster yet, but he's doing everything he can to make his case for a slot.
MLB.com's No. 51 overall prospect continued his torrid spring by tripling and scoring a run in the Mets' 8-4 Grapefruit League victory over the Nationals in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
Alonso, who has three regular-season triples in the Minor Leagues, came up with the bases empty and two outs in the bottom of the first inning and punched a fly ball to deep-center field that turned into his first three-bagger of the spring. He scored one batter later on a single by Michael Conforto.
It was the only hit of the day for Alonso, who's batting .368 with a 1.041 OPS and 10 extra-base knocks in 21 Grapefruit League games.
The top Mets prospect is battling for the first-base job at Citi Field this season. Last year, he shared the Minor League lead with 36 homers and batted .285/.395/.579 with 119 RBIs in 132 games between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas. Fellow first baseman Dominic Smith also has had a stellar spring with a .333/.382/.431 slash line in 18 games.
Recent reports have suggested Mets are going to take Alonso with them when they break camp this week, although the team has made no announcement.
In other spring action:
Cardinals 2, Marlins 1
Miami's No. 19 prospect Zac Gallen allowed one run on two hits while striking out seven over five innings in his first Grapefruit League start. The 23-year-old has a 3.00 ERA and 12 punchouts against one walk in nine frames this spring. Box score
Phillies 11, Orioles 4 (ss)
Cole Irvin, the Phillies' 16th-ranked prospect, yield one run on four hits while striking out two in four innings. Orioles No. 2 prospect Ryan Mountcastle went 2-for-3 with a walk to raise his Grapefruit League average to .282. Box score
Tigers 18, Blue Jays 6
Fifth-ranked prospect Daz Cameron smacked a grand slam to pace the Tigers' 17-hit attack. No. 29 Dustin Peterson drove in two runs with a double and a single while scoring three times, No. 7 Willi Castro delivered a two-run single and scored twice and 17th-ranked Jacob Robson contributed an RBI single. Blue Jays No. 10 prospect Cavan Biggio launched a solo homer, his third of the spring, and No. 7 Kevin Smith singled twice and scored a run. Box score
Yankees 5, Twins 3
Twins No. 29 prospect Michael Helman tripled and scored in a run in four plate appearances. Box score
Braves 4, Rays 2
The unrelated Lowes knocked hits for Tampa Bay in the loss. Nate Lowe, the club's eighth-ranked prospect, doubled in the second inning and finished 1-for-4. No. 9 Brandon Lowe singled to in three at-bats. He's put together a .388/.423/.736 slash line in 49 Grapefruit League at-bats. Box score
Astros 5, Nationals 3
Houston's No. 23 prospect Abraham Toro kept rolling with a go-ahead, two-run double in the eighth. The 22-year-old third baseman shares the team lead with 15 RBIs and is batting .349/.391/.605. Box score
Pirates 1, Orioles (ss) 1
Pittsburgh's No. 18 prospect Pablo Reyes hit his fourth Grapefruit League double in four trips to the plate. Box score
Cubs 24, Padres 6
Top Chicago prospect Miguel Amaya singled and scored. No. 30 prospect Andy Weber capped the scoring for the Cubs with an RBI double to right in the eighth. San Diego's top prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. walked twice and scored. Third-ranked Luis Urías clubbed his second dinger of the spring -- a solo shot in the fourth off Brad Brach. Box score
Rockies 4, Reds 3
Bret Boswell finished the spring with a .500 average after falling a homer shy of the cycle. Colorado's No. 26 prospect went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Fifth-ranked Grant Lavigne roped an RBI double and singled. No. 22 Rico Garcia labored in relief for Colorado, allowing three runs on five hits and four walks in four innings. No. 17 Ben Bowden struck out two in a scoreless ninth to record the save. Reds No. 22 prospect Andy Sugilio went 2-for-3 with a triple and No. 26 Joe Kuhnel fanned one in a perfect inning of relief. Box score
Brewers 3, D-backs 2
Eighth-ranked Milwaukee prospect Lucas Erceg doubled and scored. No. 14 Mario Feliciano plated a run with a fielder's choice in the fifth, and 30th-ranked Trent Grisham doubled, singled, drove in a run and scored. Arizona's No. 17 prospect Pavin Smith singled and scored. Box score
White Sox 7, Indians 3
Top Chicago prospect Eloy Jiménez lined an RBI base hit to center in the third. No. 12 Zack Collins worked a four-pitch walk and came around to score on a wild pitch. No. 24 Zach Thompson allowed two hits and fanned one over a scoreless first. Box score
Royals 3, Rangers (ss) 3
A trio of prospects did a majority of the offensive damage for Texas. Fourth-ranked Anderson Tejeda, No. 6 Leody Taveras and No. 12 Chris Seise combined for four hits, including two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored. Taveras was credited with an assist when Kansas City's Martin Maldonado was thrown out at third. Second-ranked Royals prospect Khalil Lee singled, walked and scored, and assisted on a play at second. Box score
Angels 8, Dodgers 4
Anaheim's No. 3 prospect Brandon Marsh knocked a two-run single in the eighth and finished 1-for-2. No. 29 Williams Jerez got top Dodgers prospect Alex Verdugo to ground out and Joc Pederson to line out in the fourth. No. 13 Edwin Ríos and No. 20 Omar Estevez pinch-ran and scored in the seventh. Box score
