October baseball has begun with a bang. With the Mets down to their last two outs, struggling slugger Pete Alonso flipped the script and launched New York past Milwaukee and into the National League Division Series.
OMG!
FOX Sports MLB writers Deesha Thosar and Rowan Kavner offered their top takeaways from Thursday’s thriller.
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What’s cooler than cool? The Polar Bear
Pete Alonso, after scuffling through September and the first days of October, finally got his moment. Entering the biggest at-bat of his career, Alonso had two options. He could end his 2024 campaign (and perhaps his Mets career) on the sourest of notes, doing little to nothing to change the script in a win-or-go-home game. Or, he could help save the Mets season and possibly send them to the NLDS against the Phillies. Which one was calling out his name?
Option number two.
During a hard-fought at-bat against closer Devin Williams, in which he took balls on pitches 2, 3 and 4, Alonso’s decision to swing on the fifth pitch, a changeup in the heart of the zone, was a moment of destiny. The All-Star slugger crushed a ninth-inning three-run home run, the Mets dugout emptied onto the field, the watch party of 10,000 fans at Citi Field lost their minds, and a season of underwhelming moments from the Polar Bear were all but forgotten.
Up until Thursday’s Game 3, Alonso was becoming the butt of the joke. He couldn’t hit with runners in scoring position. He recorded a full-season career-low 34 home runs. As if things couldn’t get worse, he tripped on his bat while running out of the box in Wednesday’s Game 2 to produce an inning-ending double play. In a Mets season full of whimsy, humor and joy, Alonso was the odd-man out.
All year, the Mets waited for Alonso’s big moment. All year, manager Carlos Mendoza said it would come. Finally, in Game 165, it came. With one swing, Alonso erased all the bad memories of his walk year. Alonso needed that home run, no doubt. But the Mets needed it more, and that’s why Alonso delivered. — Deesha Thosar
Young talents are meeting the moment in these playoffs
In another world, we’d be talking about rookies Jackson Chourio and Tobias Myers catapulting the Brewers to the National League Division Series. Of course, Pete Alonso authored a different tale.
Devin Williams had allowed three runs in 22 appearances this season. The Mets tagged the Brewers star closer for four in the deciding Game 3 of the wild-card series. And just like that, a day after the neophyte Tigers bombarded former All-Star relievers Ryan Pressly and Josh Hader to move on in Houston, another highly decorated closer was sent off unceremoniously into a long winter.
While it won’t ease the pain of Brewers fans, it was their young standouts who gave them a chance. Chourio, at just 20 years old, finished the three-game set with five hits, including two game-changing homers in Milwaukee’s Game 2 victory that forced the win-or-go-home matchup. After Freddy Peralta was tagged for three runs in four innings in Game 1 and Frankie Montas allowed three runs (one earned) in 3.2 innings in Game 2, it was Myers, in his first career postseason appearance, spinning five scoreless frames. And before the late implosion, it was 24-year-old Sal Frelick providing a usually reliable Brewers bullpen an insurance run to work with.
MLB’s abundance of youthful talent has been on full display early in October, and that shouldn’t change now.
Padres Rookie of the Year candidate Jackson Merrill went 3-for-7 in the wild-card series with a double and a triple. Parker Meadows started the scoring in the Tigers’ clinching wild-card game in Houston with a homer.
For the division winners waiting for their turn, Yankees catcher Austin Wells and pitcher Luis Gil have been in the AL Rookie of the Year conversation most of the year. In Cleveland, Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis have helped turned the Guardians bullpen into a juggernaut. Both teams also have another rookie X-factor who could help flip a series in Jasson Domínguez and Kyle Manzardo, respectively. Whatever happens from here, more rookies will have a say. — Rowan Kavner
Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.
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