Former Florida star Pete Alonso named to third straight MLB All-Star Game

Former Florida star Pete Alonso has been selected to play in the 2024 MLB All-Star Game, the league revealed on Sunday afternoon.

It will be the third consecutive All-Star Game appearance for Alonso and his fourth overall. He has been in the MLB for six seasons now, having a pretty remarkable early career to date.

The talented first baseman is having a bit of a bounce-back year from a batting average standpoint, hitting .243 this season after hitting a career-worst .217 a year ago. But the power has been down a touch.

After back-to-back seasons with 40 or more home runs, Pete Alonso has hit 18 in 88 games so far this year, tracking for under 40 this time around. He has yet to match his rookie total of 53, which set the rookie record in the MLB.

Alonso has thus far spent his entire career with the Mets, though he has been talked about as a potential trade target for a couple years now.

That remains the case in 2024, with Yahoo! Sports recently listing him as a possible acquisition target for the Seattle Mariners. Writes the publication:

“The Mariners’ struggling offense over the last three seasons is not a trend that they’d like to see continue. Despite having some of the best starting pitching in all of baseball, they just cannot get any consistent production from their lineup, and that includes star center fielder Julio Rodríguez, who is having a season to forget.

“Pete Alonso is the type of impact bat the Mariners need and has the ability to change the game in one swing. Alonso’s presence would be a welcomed sight for the M’s quiet bats and hopefully something that could wake up Rodriguez as well. The only downside of acquiring Alonso is that he’ll test the free-agent market this offseason and Seattle could be right back where they are now.”

Prior to reaching MLB, Pete Alonso was a star player at Florida.

In 2016, Alonso earned first-team All-American honors from numerous media outlets. He was also named a semifinalist for the 2016 Dick Howser Trophy, given to the best player in college baseball.

In the 2016 NCAA Gainesville Regional, Alonso was named the Most Outstanding Player after he went 8-for-14 with three home runs and 8 RBIs.

For the 2016 season, he blasted 14 home runs and had 60 RBIs.