There’s nothing Pete Alonso loves more than hitting dingers.
“It’s the most addicting feeling,” Alonso said before last year’s Home Run Derby. “I mean, I can’t get enough of it. I don’t know if there’s anyone that loves hitting homers more than I do.”
The two-time Derby champion fell short in his pursuit of a three-peat last year, but this year’s event represented another opportunity to win his third career Derby and tie Ken Griffey Jr.’s record. Unfortunately for Alonso, he ran into a buzzsaw in the first round as hometown hero Julio Rodríguez hit a record-setting 41 homers in the first round to eliminate Alonso.
Alonso had his work cut out for him against Rodríguez, but the pitches he saw didn’t make it any easier for him. Mets batting practice pitcher Aaron Myers was the one throwing to him and kept throwing pitches on the outer edge of the strike zone. This overlay shows just how tough some of his offerings were.
Aaron Myers, Filthy 4 Pitch Overlay. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/IjvV7jnBIp
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 11, 2023
It’s tough to blame Myers for not putting the ball where Alonso wanted it every time. Even throwing at batting practice speed, it’s difficult to have pinpoint accuracy on a consistent basis. Add in the challenge of throwing so many pitches in quick succession and it’s a lot harder than it looks.
But the pitcher is an underrated aspect of Derby success. Alonso was so fond of the pitches that then-Mets bench coach Dave Jauss threw him during his 2021 Derby victory in Denver that he brought Jauss back for last year’s event even after he left for another job with the rival Nationals.
This year, Alonso had intended to have his former travel team coach Mike Friedlein throw to him, but Friedlein had to pull out at the last minute due to a forearm injury. Alonso had told Friedlein as a teenager that he wanted him to pitch to him in the Derby some day, and Friedlein was taking the responsibility very seriously.
“It’s touchy because he wants to extend, but he doesn’t want to reach,” Friedlein told Tampa Fox affiliate WTVT last week. “And if I’m going to miss, I should miss I should miss maybe above the belly button.”
That’s a strategy Myers should have tried better to adhere to.
