Who should be DH for the NL in the MLB All-Star Game?
By Nick Reid
MLB All-Star Game
#3: Peter Alonso, 1B, New York Mets
Rookie Peter Alonso is just about the only thing New York Mets fans have to look forward to nowadays as their organization’s reputation as a dumpster fire has reached the point of burning brighter than it has in quite some time — or at least in the past few weeks. The 24-year old first baseman has been one of the most potent hitters in the senior circuit, having crushed 27 home runs which is the second-most in all of baseball. On top of that, “Polar Pete” is hitting .277 with 18 doubles, 52 runs, 63 RBI, .992 OPS and 3.6 WAR; needless to say, he’s the clear frontrunner for NL Rookie of the Year at this point of the season.
Alonso wasn’t on enough ballots in the first round of voting to advance to the All-Star Starters Election, but his gaudy stat line speaks for itself. Not only does Alonso have the numbers that warrant an All-Star selection, but the NL first base group is deep enough to afford to have three players to man the position in the game (which is typically the number of guys that run through each position in the Midsummer Classic) while having a fourth penciled in at DH.
The lone argument against Polar Pete starting the All-Star Game as the designated hitter is that perhaps Roberts may rather award the honor to a veteran whose service time could be a tiebreaker when deciding who gets to be in the starting lineup. Either way, Alonso will be in the All-Star Game and deservedly so.