Pete Alonso Wins 2019 National League Rookie of the Year

Image credit: Pete Alonso (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Pete Alonso’s historic 2019 season is ending with more hardware.

Alonso was named the National League Rookie of the Year on Monday night, receiving 29 of 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Braves righthander Mike Soroka and Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. finished second and third, respectively.

Alonso, 24, hit a rookie-record 53 home runs in 2019, breaking the previous record of 52 hit by Aaron Judge in 2017. He led the majors in home runs, ranked third in total bases (348) and finished fourth in RBIs (120).

Baseball America previously named Alonso its 2019 Rookie of the Year.

Alonso, the No. 48 prospect on the BA Top 100 entering the season, wasn’t even a sure bet to be on the Mets’ Opening Day roster but won the starting first base job in camp and never let go. He hit six home runs in his first 12 games and quickly became a staple of nightly highlight reels for his gargantuan home runs.

He hit 36 of his 53 home runs at least 400 feet, including a memorable 474-foot shot on July 17. In between his regular season feats, Alonso also won the 2019 Home Run Derby in Cleveland.

Alonso fell just short of unanimous selection. Soroka received one first-place vote and 25 second-place votes.

The 22-year-old righthander, who ranked No. 25 on the BA Top 100 before the season, went 13-4, 2.68 to help lead the Braves to the NL East Division title.

Tatis finished third after hitting .317 with 22 home runs and 16 stolen bases in only 84 games.

Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser and J.J. Cooper each had a vote for NL Rookie of the Year. Both voted Alonso first, Soroka second and Tatis third.