Pipeline names Mets' Prospects of the Year

NEW YORK -- In many ways, the saga surrounding the Mets' decision to keep Peter Alonso in the Minors all year overshadowed the rather spectacular nature of his season itself. In 132 games, Alonso hit 36 home runs, including a walk-off on the final pitch of the Triple-A Las Vegas season. He knocked in 119 runs. He posted a .975 OPS. He submitted, statistically speaking, the best offensive season of any first-base prospect in the country.
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For that reason, Alonso was named MLB Pipeline's Mets Hitting Prospect of the Year. Left-hander David Peterson is the organization's Pitching Prospect of the Year, as chosen by MLB Pipeline staff. To receive consideration, players must have spent at least half the year in the Minors, and appeared on their organization's Top 30 Prospects list.
"I just need to keep working, and getting better," Alonso said last month at Citi Field, where he was honored as the Mets' Minor League Player of the Year. "Every kid grows up in the back yard playing baseball with their dad, dreaming of being out there, playing on that field. It's going to be a special moment. You get to a point where I'm lucky to be playing. I know it's going to happen. I just have to continue to get better, and keep proving I can do it every single day."

Based on his performance, Alonso, the Mets' second-ranked prospect behind shortstop Andres Gimenez, deserved to end this season in the Majors. But 40-man roster concerns prompted the Mets to keep Alonso at Las Vegas, much to his frustration. It remains to be seen whether the former second-round Draft pick will break camp with the Mets next spring, or stay in the Minors as Dominic Smith, Jay Bruce and Wilmer Flores receive first-base reps.
"Everyone's trying to figure out a way, how to make the team," Alonso said. "It's a competition, but I just need to concentrate on playing the best ball I can play."
The same is true for Peterson, the Mets' first-round Draft pick in 2017 and currently their sixth-ranked prospect. In his first full professional season, Peterson dominated at Class A Columbia, posting a 1.82 ERA in nine starts. But Peterson scuffled a bit after the Mets promoted him to Class A St. Lucie, producing a 4.33 mark in his final 13 outings.

The left-hander profiles as a future cog of the Mets' rotation.
"You want to move as fast as possible," Peterson said. "Everyone's dream is to play here. But the only thing you can do is go out there every day, and play as hard as you can. The only thing I can control on a daily basis is what work I put in, how hard I work and the focus I put on my craft.
"Ultimately, I can't call myself up. I've got to wait for that call."