Keith Hernandez didn’t exactly hide his frustration with the Mets on Wednesday, and the target of that frustration was impossible to miss: first base.
During New York’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Hernandez used a 0-0 tie in the top of the second inning to fire off a blunt critique of how the position is being valued.
"Seems like today's game, they don't give first base enough credit. Certainly, the Mets don't" - Keith Hernandez pic.twitter.com/2s0varbByF
- Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 22, 2026
The comment landed like more than a passing broadcast gripe. It sounded like a shot at the Mets’ decision to let Pete Alonso go, and maybe just as much at the idea that Mark Vientos could handle the job. Hernandez doesn’t seem remotely close to getting over that call.
The numbers behind Alonso’s defense only sharpen the point. At the time of Hernandez’s remark, Alonso had a 4 OAA this year for the Baltimore Orioles, and among qualified first basemen, only Ty France had graded out better in that stat.
That kind of production helps explain why Hernandez has kept circling back to the subject. He has every credential to do it, too. With a Gold Glove-laden résumé and a reputation as maybe the best player ever to field the position, Hernandez has plenty of authority when he talks first base.
Alonso has long carried the label of a shaky defender because of his range and, more notably, his throwing. But his work scooping balls was elite, and his bat made any defensive flaw easier to live with. Hernandez appears to see it the same way, believing Alonso was good enough at the position to justify keeping him.
He has been far more complimentary when discussing Jared Young, praising the way he has handled first base more often than not. Vientos, though, has not drawn the same kind of praise. When he’s involved in a play, it becomes a tense moment.
That gap matters whether you lean on the eye test or the metrics. Vientos at -9 OAA has matched Alonso’s mark from last year and the year before, and each of those seasons was Alonso’s worst by that measure.
But Hernandez’s irritation may be aimed at something even bigger than Alonso versus Vientos. The Mets’ first-base plan has been a mess from the start.
They let Alonso walk, Vientos hasn’t been able to settle in at the spot, and Jorge Polanco was signed with the intention of learning first base before an injury limited him to two games there. He may not be back at the position for a while.
For a Mets club that has talked plenty about run prevention, the whole setup looks like a contradiction. Hernandez clearly sees it that way, and Wednesday’s comment made that plain. If that was enough to set him off, the Orioles’ visit in September could be even more interesting.
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