![\"Pete](\"https:\/\/www.silive.com\/resizer\/v2\/7C76GFP2RNB4HARG4F65OLXAME.jpg?auth=ed7a4d9311495e2cbc1f6dae9b144743045c9599962d588447e34266e4de6c60&width=500&quality=90\")
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ST. LOUIS \u2014 In a sport where the most successful players fail in most of their at-bats, Pete Alonso knows perfection is not possible. But that won\u2019t stop him from trying.<\/p>\n
Alonso hit the go-ahead home run in the Mets\u2019 9-3 win at St. Louis on Friday night to keep up his strong start.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis game is really imperfect, and I never really truly feel like that it\u2019s ever going to be perfect, but I just want to be able to strive for that perfection,\u201d Alonso said.<\/p>\n
Through 33 games, Alonso has an 1.137 OPS for the NL East-leading Mets. A career .249 hitter entering 2025, his batting average is .345 and he\u2019s also drawn 24 walks.<\/p>\n
Alonso said his drive to take his game to the next level was spurred on by getting a taste of the playoffs last year, when New York made it to the NL Championship Series.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery game counts,\u201d Alonso said.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, every at-bat and every swing \u2014 or decision not to swing \u2014 matters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is year seven (in MLB),\u201d Alonso said. \u201cI know what I need to do to be successful. And for me, I think just holding on to holding on to my swing mechanics and just trying to be the best version of myself every single pitch, every single at bat, every single night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brandon Nimmo, Alonso\u2019s teammate his entire big-league career, has seen the difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s just another exclamation point on all the work that he\u2019s done this offseason. It seems like he\u2019s in an amazing spot, to me,\u201d Nimmo said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a flash in the pan. Like, this is sustained success.<\/p>\n
Last season, Alonso struck out in nearly a quarter of his plate appearances, tying for the 14th-most in the league. He\u2019s reduced that number to less than 15% so far this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know the power is there, and we know he\u2019s a good hitter, but he gets in trouble when he starts chasing,\u201d Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. \u201cI feel like now, like he\u2019s taking his walk and he\u2019s getting pitches to hit and he\u2019s not missing them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last season, Alonso struck out in nearly a quarter of his plate appearances, tying for the 14th-most in the league. He\u2019s reduced that number to less than 15% so far this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":58486,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n