Pete Alonso would love to defend his Home Run Derby title in Los Angeles in two weeks – as long as he’s an All-Star, that is.
Maybe said jokingly, but Alonso was serious when he asked Mets fans to vote for him as the NL’s starting first baseman for the mid-summer exhibition when he joined Carton & Roberts on Tuesday.
“It would be great to start, so if you guys can go to MLB.com and vote for the Polar Bear, I’d love to rep the best city in the world out in L.A. – and if you guys vote me in, I’ll do the Home Run Derby,” he said. “If I’m an All-Star I will 100 percent do the Derby.”
Alonso and St. Louis’ Paul Goldschmidt are the two finalists for the starting first base spot, and balloting ends on Friday at 2 p.m. ET. The Polar Bear and Starling Marte are the Mets’ two finalists, Marte one of four outfielders up for two spots alongside Ronald Acuna Jr., so there’s double reason to vote.
The Polar Bear leads all NL first basemen in home runs and RBI and is fourth in OPS, but with Josh Bell and/or C.J Cron having good seasons and playing for teams (Washington and Colorado) that may not get multiple reps, Alonso wants to leave nothing to chance.
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“It would mean so much to me,” he said. “New York is such a great city and I just want to be the best representation possible out there, so you guys voting me to start would be huge.”
He would love to see Aaron Judge join him for a NYC showdown in the Derby, too, saying that would be a “fun time” but he won’t put out the challenge.
He did challenge Mets fans (and hey, Yankees fans, help a friend out too!) for the vote, though, so head over to MLB.com and vote!
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