Who Should Represent New York Mets in Home Run Derby?

Two New York Mets players have won the Derby in the past and there are certainly candidates to go to Seattle this season.

Only four players have won the All-Star Game Home Run Derby at least twice. New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso is one of them.

So, could — and should — Alonso accept an invitation for next month’s Home Run Derby in Seattle?

MLB.com put together a Home Run Derby candidate for each team and it selected Alonso, even though Alonso spent some time out with an injured wrist. Well, on Sunday the Mets activated Alonso, even though his wrist injury was expected to keep him out for three to four weeks. Instead, he missed a week.

It might not be the best idea for Alonso to participate in the Home Run Derby so soon after coming back from injury. But, as MLB.com points out, no one brings the fun quite like Alonso:

We should all hope so, because there is no more consistently enjoyable show than Pete Alonso in the Home Run Derby, win or lose.

Alonso’s return means the Mets get a power source back. Before the injury he hit 22 home runs, which not only led the Mets but led Major League Baseball. He gave up the lead this weekend when the Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani hit his 23rd home run.

Indeed, Alonso has been entertaining in the Home Run Derby. He won the Derby in 2019 in Cleveland and then defended his crown in 2021 at Coors Field in Denver (there was no 2020 All-Star Game due to the COVID-19 shortened season).

When he won the 2019 Derby, he became the first Met to win the Derby since Darryl Strawberry did it in 1986 at Houston’s Astrodome. But Strawberry had to share the title with the Angels’ Wally Joyner.