Peter Alonso named Florida State League Player of the Month for July

Minor League Baseball announced on Monday that St. Lucie Mets first baseman Peter Alonso is the Florida State League Player of the Month for July. In 29 games during the month, Alonso batted .336 while leading the FSL with eight home runs and 70 total bases. For the season, he’s hitting .291/.367/.534 with 14 home runs and a 19-percent strikeout rate.

Those are pretty good figures for someone who was just drafted out of the University of Florida last season. Alonso figures to be a fast riser due to his second-round talent and college experience, so fans should to see him in Binghamton with the Rumble Ponies in 2018 at the latest.

Since he plays the same position as another hot prospect in Dominic Smith, Alonso doesn’t have a clear path to the big leagues right now, but the Mets have shown the willingness to be flexible and sacrifice defense to get their best bats in the lineup. Plus, we don’t even know if Smith is a bona fide slugger yet. No matter what, it’s always good to have solid young hitters in the organization, and Alonso sure looks like another one.