Gary Cohen wonders if baseballs are ‘a little more jumpy this year’ after Pete Alonso’s ‘shocking’ home run

Forget the torpedo bats; what in the world is going on with the baseballs?

We haven’t entirely entered 2019 territory just yet, but it’s still early. And the ball has been flying out of ballparks already this season, as New York Mets play-by-play voice Gary Cohen aptly noted. Something appeared fishy to the SNY announcer as Pete Alonso trotted around the bases on Friday afternoon.

In the home half of New York’s home opener, Alonso took one the other way off Toronto Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman. For his third home run of the season, Alonso reached over the other batter’s box to take an outside fastball 377 feet over the right field fence.

It looked like Blue Jays right fielder Alan Roden would have a play. He didn’t.

Alonso hit it 101 mph, but that ball kept carrying and carrying…

“It’s hard to pitch if you cannot get away with this pitch on Alonso,” Ron Darling said. “This is [inaudible], outside corner, down, and he flicked it 375 feet.”

“The ball has really been carrying in the early season,” Cohen said.

“It sure has,” added Keith Hernandez.

Alonso got a curtain call in his first at-bat back at Citi Field since re-signing with the hometown team.

“I mean, you’ve got to be awfully strong to do that, but that was a shocking home run,” Cohen continued. “I mean, the one that [Miami Marlins infielder] Otto Lopez hit off the facing of the second deck in right field in Miami, that was shocking. But even for Pete Alonso to hit a home run in that fashion is really not something you ever expect.”

“You know it’s interesting, something we’ve seen in the past the right fielder looked like, off the bat, he might have a play on that,” said Darling. “And the next thing you know, he’s rubbing up a new one, or the pitcher was, anyway.”

“It certainly makes you consider what might be going on, whether the baseball might be a little more jumpy than it was last year,” Cohen said.

So, what’s going on?

Well, it’s worth noting that Alonso recently became one of just 10 players in the Statcast era to record three batted balls with exit velocities of 113 mph or higher in a single game. That happened in the Mets 6-5 win over the Marlins on Thursday, the same game Hernandez bemoaned about the “piss-poor hitting.” But not Alonso. It’s not like he’s struggling to see the ball.

That said, the early-season signs suggest something might be up with the baseball.