Pete Alonso’s Fenway Park home run was one of his hardest-hit yet

Last night at Fenway Park, Pete Alonso absolutely smoked a home run over the Green Monster as the Mets won their first of four games against the Red Sox this week. While he had struggled in the first series of the season against the Braves, it should come as no surprise that last year’s National League Rookie of the Year and the all-time record holder for rookie home runs hit his first one of this season.

This home run happened to also be one of the hardest Alonso has hit in his young major league career, with Statcast clocking it at 116.3 miles per hour off the bat.

It’s worth noting that Major League Baseball replaced Trackman, its old tracking system, with a system called Hawk-Eye beginning this season, and it has seemed like velocities for pitchers have been a bit inflated in the first few games of the season. If that is the case, perhaps there will be some correction to the data down the road.

For now, Alonso’s home run on Monday night ranks as the third-hardest of his 54 career home runs. His hardest remains an 118.3 mile per hour shot that he hit off of Johnny Venters back on April 11 last year, the fifth home run of his career. His second-hardest came on June 20 last year, a ball that left the bat at 117.0 miles per hour against Tyler Chatwood.

In terms of distance, Alonso’s home run last night at Fenway was projected to travel 402 feet, which puts it in his lower half of career home runs by distance. While majestic, long-distance home runs are glorious to watch in their own right, though, line drives that look like they’re still going up by the time they clear an outfield fence are often the most impressive.