NEW YORK -- Pete Alonso’s favorite part of life in the big leagues?

“Oh, the food, for sure,” Alonso said, laughing. “It’s got to be the food.”

Ballpark spreads around the country aside, Alonso has taken to the big leagues as quickly and as fully as his most ardent supporters anticipated. Each night, Alonso seems to set a new rookie mark -- whether for the most RBIs in his first 20 career games or the most home runs by a Mets rookie in April, or any countless number of similar statistics. Alonso, who entered his first regular season as a bona fide National League Rookie of the Year Award candidate, has done nothing to dissuade voters taking early notes.

“He’s here to win every single day, and he brings energy like every moment out there on the field,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. “He’s been tremendous so far. It’s fun getting to learn who he is and what he’s all about.”

In evaluating Alonso’s first month in the Majors, Callaway was particularly struck by a phone call Alonso placed last weekend in St. Louis, lobbying Callaway to put him in the lineup against his college rival, Dakota Hudson. Callaway did, and Alonso vindicated the decision with a first-inning homer.

That type of thing has been the norm for Alonso, who has constantly had to prove himself despite a track record of almost uninterrupted success coming up through the Minors. To make it to the big leagues, Alonso needed to show the Mets he could hold his own defensively. So far? He’s held his own just fine. To break camp on Opening Day, Alonso had to prove that he was one of the Mets’ 25 best players. So far? He’s been a good bit better than that.

“You see the energy, you see the focus, you see his ability to take pitches the right way, to expand the zone to get an RBI,” Callaway said. “This guy brings a lot to the table.”

There will come a time when the league adjusts to Alonso, and the onus will fall to him to adjust back. The Mets aren’t particularly worried. Among Alonso’s quirks is a marble composition notebook he uses to log his history with pitchers and their tendencies against them. During the first series of the year, Alonso used his notes on Stephen Strasburg, gathered during Spring Training, to collect two hits -- including a key RBI double -- in three at-bats against him.

For a player who might have debuted late last summer under different circumstances, Alonso is not letting any amount of early success change his mentality.

“Every day up here is extremely special to me,” Alonso said. “I hope that every single day is like this for the rest of my career. It’s a blessing. I’ve worked hard to get here. But also, it’s a privilege, and I don’t want to lose sight of that ever. It’s just one of those things that I just really appreciate being here. I don’t want to take anything for granted.”