New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso took home MLB’s NL Rookie of the Month Award after an impressive first April in the majors, and that drew a strong response from San Diego Padres rookie pitcher Chris Paddack. Considering how much time is remaining in the season, Alonso doesn’t think Paddack should get himself too worked up over the hardware.
Before Paddack started against Alonso and the Mets on Monday night, he complimented Alonso for having a great April but said he is “coming for him.”
“Do I wish it was me? Yeah. But the way I look at it is, do you want to be Rookie of the Month or Rookie of the Year? We’ll see, man,” Paddack told Dennis Lin of The Athletic. “We’ve got a long season and I’m looking forward to Monday, competing against him.”
Paddack threw 7 2/3 innings of four-hit ball against the Mets on Monday and did not allow a run, lowering his ERA to 1.55 on the season. He made six starts from March 31 to April 30 and allowed four or fewer hits in every one, compiling a 1.91 ERA and holding opponents to a .126 average. Alonso, who was 0-for-4 on Monday, hit .292/.382/.642 with nine home runs and 25 RBI over the first month of the season.
Either player could have won the award, and Alonso had a great response to Paddack feeling slighted over it.
“If he was mad about that, I mean there are five other months.”
Pete Alonso on Chris Paddack’s comments about Rookie of the Month: pic.twitter.com/kYIP787Eih
— Steve Gelbs (@SteveGelbs) May 7, 2019
Alonso obviously plays a lot more than Paddack, and he has wowed fans with some incredible moments already this year. Only one player in each league can win the Rookie of the Month Award, and Alonso is right that Paddack will have five more opportunities to capture it. If the right-hander using that as motivation, that is good news for the Padres.
