Tonight, Pete Alonso is going to be named the National League Rookie of the Year. The only question right now is whether or not it will be unanimous. Considering Jacob deGrom wasn’t a unanimous choice for Cy Young last year, we should not discount anyone making a dumb decision by not voting for Alonso.

When Alonso is named as the Rookie of the Year, he will join deGrom in a list of Mets who have won the Rookie of the Year award. Those other Mets are Tom Seaver, Jon Matlack, Darryl Strawberry, and Dwight Gooden. If you’ll notice, Alonso will join Strawberry as the only other Mets position player to win the Rookie of the Year. Alonso will also be the first infielder.

If you dig deeper, there is something else you’ll notice. Each and every one of the Mets players who have won a Rookie of the Year award have been part of a Mets pennant winning team. Of the group, Strawberry had to wait the longest with his appearing in the 1986 World Series three years after he won the award.

Alonso is a middle of the order type of bat who can power the Mets to a pennant in the near future. He broke all of Strawberry’s rookie records. He surpassed the Mets single season mark shared by Todd Hundley and Alonso’ new manager Carlos Beltran. He also passed the rookie first base mark held by Mark McGwire and the overall rookie record held by Aaron Judge.

With Alonso’s drive and determination, we can see him being the type of player who can help lead the Mets to a World Series. He has shown that ability. The question is whether the team is going to help him and his teammates get there. But that is a question for another day.

For today, it is about Alonso. He is going to receive an award he has well earned, and with that award comes promise for the future. No matter what happens, Alonso will always carry that promise with his bat. For that reason alone, today is a day to rejoice and to appreciate the slugger whose ability on the field may only be surpassed by his ability as a teammate.