Battle of the Sluggers in the Big Apple

Author: Steven Chase

Editor: Mark Awadallah

Playing baseball in New York, the largest sports market in the world, warrants a great deal of criticism as well as comparisons to your cross-town counterparts. This is extremely relevant amongst the two first basemen in NYC, Pete Alonso and Luke Voit, where people ask, who is the best in New York? After the 2019 season, the answer to this was obvious: Pete Alonso. But after a huge power surge by Voit in 2020, notching 22 home runs in 56 games, and a somewhat down year for Alonso, the answer was not as clear.

Defensively, Alonso has the upper hand. Over his two-year career he has posted a 0 UZR and -7 DRS, while Voit has posted a measly -3.8 UZR and -23 DRS over the past three years. Evidently, neither are known for their defense, and since they both play first base this should not be taken too far into consideration. Voit has been in the league since 2017, but his first two years saw little action, therefore it is only a small sample size. Because of this, to compare the two we will use their stats from 2019-2020.

2019 was a historic year for Pete Alonso. After a stellar performance in Spring Training Brodie Van Wagenen, the Mets General Manager at the time, gave Alonso the call to come play first base for the Mets. Alonso blossomed in the new role. He posted a slash line of .260/.358/.583, a .941 OPS, 147 OPS+, 120 RBIs, and most notably 53 home runs. He also took home some hardware, winning the T-Mobile Home Run Derby and Rookie of the Year, as well as setting the Mets franchise and all-time rookie record for home runs in a single season. While Voit had a solid season, he was nowhere close to Alonso in the 2019 season. Voit posted a .263/.378/.464, a .842 OPS, a 123 OPS+, and 21 home runs. When evaluating the players, 2019 is the most important season to look at since it is the most recent full season. But we also cannot ignore 2020.

This was a down year for Alonso, posting a .231/.326/.490, .817 OPS, and a 123 OPS+. Even in a down year Alonso still posted very solid numbers, just not as good of numbers we hoped for. Voit on the other hand broke out in 2020, putting up .237/.338/.610, .948 OPS, and a 156 OPS+. If you combine the two years, one may presume that this is a very close call, which it is, but there are a few confounding variables that one must point out. Firstly, age is a key factor. Alonso is 26, meaning that these numbers he posted were from his developmental period and he has not yet entered his prime. As a result, it’s likely Alonso will only get better. Voit is turning 30 on February 16th, meaning that he has most likely peaked. Therefore, he will most likely not be getting any better. The second confounding variable is the 60-game season.

In Voit’s best season, he did not endure the stress on his body that most would throughout a full 162 game season. Alonso played 161 out of the 162 games in 2019, and still maintained very comparable numbers to what Voit did in 2020.

Finally, the sophomore season for MLB players is often the worst year. Alonso was a subject of this, as he did not achieve the success that he did the year before. This conveys that 2020 could have been somewhat of a fluke for Voit. This is not to say that Voit is not good, but that he cannot be compared to Alonso just because of an elite 60 game stretch. If Voit continues the success that he had in 2020 throughout 2021, then he could possibly be as good, if not better than Alonso. Unfortunately for Yankees fans however, this is not likely. All in all, Alonso is the best first basemen in New York right now, and it is likely that he will keep this up for years to come.

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