It was an eventful offseason for Pete Alonso, as he waited a long time to re-sign with the New York Mets on a two-year, $54 million deal, and he is setting himself up to have a much more successful trip to free agency next offseason with the start he has had so far this season. Mets hitting coach Eric Chavez went into what is leading to the early success for Alonso.

“It just means he's seeing the baseball,” hitting coach Eric Chavez said, via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. “He's able to recognize the spin, the pitches that are going to be in the zone, out of the zone.”

Alonso has hit four home runs and is batting .345 with a .464 on-base percentage, being the main force in the Mets' lineup so far. Chavez emphasized plate discipline for Alonso to keep this level of play going.

“If he's able to do that, everything else is going to take care of itself,” Chavez said, via DiComo. “The average is going to be good. It means he's taking pitches, taking the close pitches. If you pay attention to his at-bats, just the way he is negotiating at-bats right now is, ‘Whoa.'”

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If a Mets player were to win the MVP award in 2025, most would guess Juan Soto, and that still might be the more likely player to win the award, but Chavez sees MVP upside in Alonso based on his start to the season.

“Those are probably at-bats where [in the past] he swings at a couple pitches and kind of gives those at-bats away,” Chavez said, via DiComo. “So I know it is early. The hits aren't always going to fall for you … but if Pete can add just a little bit of that to his game, he's going to be going to MVP talk in a hurry.”

Chavez had a very good career as a player himself, mostly with the Oakland Athletics. If he is right about Alonso, the first baseman is setting himself up to get paid handsomely next winter.