Acclaimed NY Mets pitching lab has another clear RSVP to send out after Juan Soto

During Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, it came up on the broadcast about how Juan Soto wanted to work on his throwing. What did the New York Mets do? They put him in the lab!

The acclaimed Mets pitching lab has been turning below-average pitchers into All-Star caliber arms since its inception. A bit mysterious, much like the factory owned by Willy Wonka, it shouldn’t take a golden ticket in a random chocolate bar to invite more position players.

There’s a clear candidate who could only benefit from an afternoon. When does Pete Alonso become Charlie Bucket and eat an Everlasting Gobstopper?

There must be something Pete Alonso can learn in the Mets pitching lab

Alonso has made 50 errors in his career and 23 of them have been on throws. The percentage has been more common in the last two seasons. 8 of the last 11 came on errant throws. Whether to second base, home plate, or a quick snap to the pitcher covering first base, we all hold our breath. Demons of Lucas Duda in the 2015 World Series ever-present with the ball in Alonso’s hand, any help he can get to improve this one fatal flaw in his game.

An expert scooper, Alonso has come a long way from his early days when he was thought of as a major league DH, not a first baseman. The errant throws are indeed his most consistent weakness at the moment on both sides of the ball.

The Mets have been forward-thinking in the last several years, the pitching lab being the prime example. Now that they’re putting position players in there to improve their ability to throw a baseball, fans might be wondering what’s next for this organization.

A hitting lab seems all too easy to create at some point. Some way to improve fielding beyond just throwing. The real mastery would come if the team could find a way to prevent or at least lower injuries. That’s the Holy Grail for all teams. It’s often the healthiest ball clubs that make it the furthest. Stay tuned for a Mets Pilates Studio in the not too distant future.