Inside The Mets

Mets' Gary Cohen questions MLB's home run pace to begin season

Gary Cohen brought up a very interesting question during the Mets' home opener on Friday.

Logan VanDine

Apr 4, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) rounds the bases after hitting a two run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Apr 4, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) rounds the bases after hitting a two run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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During the New York Mets' home-opening win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, Pete Alonso continued his hot start to the 2025 season.

In his first game back at Citi Field since re-signing with the Mets this offseason, the Polar Bear slugged a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to give New York an instant 2-0 lead. The Mets would later go on to win game one of their three-game series against the Blue Jays, 5-0.

Alonso's home run on Friday was certainly impressive, as he powered a low-and-away pitch out of the strike zone to the opposite field; at first, it didn't seem like it had enough to leave the yard. The ability to hit these kind of pitches for home runs is a testament to Alonso's reputation as a power hitter, being one of the league's most prolific sluggers since making his major league debut in 2019.

Gary Cohen, however, raised a very interesting question about the fast home run pace to begin the new season.

Shortly after Alonso hit his home run, the Mets' play-by-play broadcaster seemed very shocked about how the 30-year-old was able to hit that ball out of the park. It even had Cohen questioning if this season's baseballs are the same as last year's.

"You gotta be awfully strong to do that, but that was a shocking home run," Cohen said. "Even for Pete Alonso to hit a home run in that fashion, it's really not something you ever expect...it certainly makes you consider what might be going on, whether the baseball might be a little more jumpy than it was last year."

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Even though Alonso is off to a hot and encouraging start for the Mets this season, especially after his down year on offense last year, Cohen is bringing up an interesting point.

MLB had come under suspicion of "juicing" baseballs from 2017 to 2019; in particular, a major-league record 6,776 home runs were hit in the last of those seasons, with seven different teams hitting 250 or more long balls and two (the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees) hitting over 300 homers in a race for the single-season record for home runs by a team.

2019 was also Alonso's rookie season, and he went on to set a rookie record with 53 home runs (which also led the majors). Granted, the Polar Bear has consistently proven that his incredible rookie season was no fluke, but that homer tally remains his career high despite continued strides in his hitting.

Entering Friday's games, there have already been 234 home runs across the league with the first week of the season now officially in the books. This puts the league on pace for 6,318 homers, which would be the second-most in a single season behind only 2019.

MLB can deny any claims about potentially having altered baseballs this season, but after Alonso's latest opposite field home run, Cohen being around the game of baseball for over 30 years, and the 2017-2019 seasons still relatively fresh in Cohen's mind, he may be on to something.

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Logan VanDine
LOGAN VANDINE

Logan VanDine is a contributing writer for On SI's Mets. Logan is a graduate of Rider University where he majored in Sports Media and minored in Sports Studies. During his time at Rider, Logan worked for Rider's radio station, 107.7 The Bronc as a sports host, producer and broadcaster, and for the school's paper: The Rider News. He began his time with The Rider News as a section writer for sports and was a copy editor for two years followed by being one of the sports editors during his senior year. Logan also placed third in the New Jersey Press Foundation Awards for sports feature writing. Aside from his work at On SI, he is also a writer for FanSided covering the New York Giants and Mets and also covers the Giants for Total Apex Sports. Give him a follow on X: @VandineLogan

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