Mets’ Juan Soto, Pete Alonso combo causing ‘pick your poison’ conundrum

Clayton McCullough had no good option before him. The Marlins’ first-year manager was damned if he did, and damned if he didn't on Tuesday afternoon at Citi Field. This pickle was the handiwork of the Mets' offseason spending coming to fruition: Do you pitch to Juan Soto or walk him to load the bases and take your chances against Pete Alonso?

McCullough, trying to maintain a one-run deficit with one out in the bottom of the sixth, opted to walk Soto and let right-handed reliever Edgardo Henriquez go after Alonso with the bags full. That decision was no surprise to Mets manager Carlos Mendoza: “I think it gets to a point where it’s pick your poison there.”

What did the red-hot slugger think of the intentional walk ahead of him? “Hell yeah, alright, let’s go,” Alonso said. “Time to execute a game plan.”

The slugger, who already had a wind-aided RBI double earlier in the game, said it wasn’t the first time a team has walked somebody to face him. His plan in that position was to “stay within an approach” and “capitalize when the ball shows up there.”

The ball certainly showed up in the form of a 0-1 sinker that dropped right over the middle of the plate and thigh-high. Alsono was all over it, driving it 112.6 mph off the bat into the left-center gap to clear the bases and solidify the Mets' sixth consecutive win.

"I was just really stoked to have that chance to come through for the team right there," he said.

Alonso now has 15 RBI and is slugging .692 with a 1.139 OPS through his first 39 at-bats. The key? “Just getting pitches over the plate and capitalizing,” he said. “Fouling off tough pitches when they’re on the corners late in the count. When they vacate the zone, don’t swing.”

He added: “I definitely feel confident, but every day is a new battle, a new challenge, and every single day, I just want to feel consistent in my mechanics and making good decisions pitch to pitch and at-bat to at-bat.”

A simple recipe that has been successful and one that the man hitting before him appreciates.

“He’s been taking really good at-bats,” Soto said. “He’s been taking his walks and everything, he’s not trying to be the hero. He’s really settled down. When the moments needed. Whenever he gets a pitch, he tries to drive it. If not, he takes his walks.”

BASES CLEARING DOUBLE FOR PETE ALONSO. ???? pic.twitter.com/xsehzKkf5S— SNY (@SNYtv) April 8, 2025

While following Soto is a tough act, through the first 11 games, Alonso said watching the slugger hit has allowed him to see the pitcher work and “take mental notes” on those at-bats.

“Super dynamic player, but the thing that I really benefit from – because he sees a ton of pitches – just seeing what they’re trying to do to him really helps,” Alonso said.

The inning prior, it was Brandon Nimmo who benefited from Alonso walking after an eight-pitch at-bat against Calvin Faucher when the outfielder came through with a two-RBI double to give the Mets a lead they wouldn't relinquish.

“The biggest thing that we do as an offense is we scrap at-bats, we grind out counts and we’re all really, really tough outs,” Alonso said. “And when we’re doing that, we’re gonna put up a lot of runs. That’s exactly what we want to do as a team.”

Mendoza added that as long as the lineup is “making traffic” on the bases, “eventually we’ll get the big hit.”

“We feel really good about our chances, whether it’s with Juan, whether it’s with Pete, whoever we got behind those guys,” he said, before adding that it is “not easy to game plan when you have, especially good hitters, but right-lefty-switch hitter… Deep lineup, really good hitters, they’re gonna come around.”

And on a frigid, blustery day that had the Citi Field crowd searching for hot chocolate, there would be no excuses from the day’s big star.

"Yeah, it's cold. It's windy. So what?” Alonso said. “We've got to go out there, we've got to put our uniform on and we've got to go win a ballgame."