Last year, Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees shot 62 homers. He broke Roger Maris’ 61 homers in 1961 for the most home runs in a single season in the American League in 61 years. Judge’s 62 home runs are virtually recognized as the best in the major leagues.
Major League Baseball Most Home Runs in a Single Season
73 – Barry Bonds (2001)
70 – Mark McGwire (1998)
66 – Sammy Sosa (1998)
65 – Mark McGwire (1999)
64 – Sammy Sosa (2001)
63 – Sammy Sosa (1999)
62 – Aaron Judge (2022)
Judge, who challenged the home run king, was in the spotlight throughout the season. And he won the American League MVP race against Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels. Judge made Yankees fans proud.
The player who is quietly burning in Judge’s historic performance is Pete Alonso of the New York Mets. Alonso is another New York leader. He broke the record for most home runs by a rookie with 53 home runs in 2019. The player Alonso surpassed was the jersey who hit 52 homers in 2017. The two are close friends who share information, but are often compared because they play for different teams in New York.
Alonso is a model answer when it comes to home runs. He is hitting the most home runs since 2019 until last season. He also won the All-Star Game Home Run Derby twice in 2019 and 2021. His 174 home runs in his career in the Home Run Derby is a record that will not be broken for a while (Albert Pujols’ 106 home runs in second place).
Most home runs in 2019-22
146 – Pete Alonso
137 – Aaron Judge
127 – Kyle Schwaber
But Alonso hasn’t had much of a relationship with a home run king. His debut season was the first and last. 3rd in the league in the 2020 season (16 home runs) 3rd in the league in the 2021 season (37 home runs) Last season was second in the league (40 home runs). He is called the home run king, but he is the home run king title only once. In a car that was regretful, Judge spent the season solidifying his position as the home run king.먹튀검증
This year, Alonso is challenging the home run king again. Thrones are granted to those who are prepared. Alonso refined the mental part rather than the technical part. One of the methods was a change in routine.
Last winter Alonso woke up every morning and went for a run. Originally, it was an exercise that Alonso did not do. Running was no ordinary jogging either. He was sprinting, running 3km non-stop at the maximum speed he could. Starting the day with a sprint has become a routine. Alonso explained why he chose running: “I wanted to push myself to the extreme, so I wanted to have a higher level of mental strength when I surpassed it.”
Running every morning has made me healthier. He showed up at the spring camp training ground after losing 4.5 kg from before. It’s no wonder that manager Buck Showalter, who takes self-care seriously, was pleased (Showalter says he made the decision to get leaner ‘on his own’ in the offseason).
Alonso lost weight, and the distance to a home run at Citi Field decreased. The Mets moved the right wall slightly forward (2.4m) to create new space. Since it is the right wall, it is difficult for Alonso to benefit greatly, but it is expected that the number of home runs at home will increase by one or two. First of all, it is a good thing for Alonso that the possibility of the batted ball going over the wall has increased.
On the 13th, Alonso hit his sixth home run of the season on a fastball from San Diego Padres starter Blake Snell. It was the moment when he rose to the top spot in home runs in the major leagues (Today, Ryan Mountcastle of Baltimore hit his 6th home run of the season and tied for first place). His home run pace at the beginning of the season is quite good. In the first 13 games last year when he hit 40 home runs, he had two home runs. In addition, Alonso had the least number of home runs in his career outside of this season in March/April. Conversely, September/October had the highest number of home runs per month (38 home runs in 110 games). The percentage of home runs per at-bat was also the highest.
Currently, Alonso has yet to reveal his true colors. He’s sitting at a 57.3% swing rate into the strike zone. Over the past two years, Alonso’s record for this category has been 70.9 percent, above the major league average.
The swing rate of the first ball also dropped significantly from 33.5% last year to 20% this year. The idea is to keep an eye on pitchers’ balls as much as possible in the early search matches. The positive part is picking out the bad balls, not just saving the swing. In the chase%, which is an indicator of hitting a ball out of the zone, it was 33.5% last year, but this year it is 25.8%. Meanwhile, Alonso is recording the lowest strikeout rate (16.4%) and highest walk rate (12.7%) since his debut. He is even erasing the weaknesses of home run hitters.
Meanwhile, Alonso has stated that his goal is not to hit 60 home runs. He added, “I’d be happy if I reached 60 home runs, but I’m not obsessed with the number of home runs.” Alonso is focusing on getting the home runs his team needs rather than just getting a lot of home runs. At the same time, he always emphasized the team’s victory in public events.
Home runs are on the rise in the major leagues this season. The number of home runs per game, which fell to 1.07 last year, increased to 1.17 this year. It’s not as much as in 2019 (1.39), when the number of home runs exploded, but the atmosphere is shifting from throwing-go-tazer to ride-two-jeer.
As the number of home runs increased, so did the number of home run hitters. In other words, the competition for the home run king this year is expected to become more intense. Will Alonso be able to break through the heightened competition and claim the home run title? “There’s only Alonso who can do it like Judge,” said Mets teammate Jeff McNeil.