#The perfect storm behind Pete Alonso’s uneasy Mets start

There was little chance Pete Alonso was going to hit 53 home runs even if this wasn’t a 60-game pandemic season.

And it isn’t as if Alonso is the only Met off to a slow start, in a sprint of a season that has cautioned one and all against slow starts.

And even as the Mets witness firsthand how baseball can give us, at least for a short time, improbable boys of summer like the Marlins, who tested positive and stayed positive, there was no one pushing the panic button, even though it will be getting late early sooner rather than later.

But why wasn’t the Home Run Derby champion hitting home runs?

Where has our beloved Polar Bear Pete gone?

Alonso was this orange-and-blue meteor who lit up the New York sports sky, talk of the town — 53 home runs in 597 at bats, or one every 11.26, and 120 RBIs, and a .941 OPS, and a .260 batting average.

He entered the second game of the Marlins series Saturday night with one home run in 54 at bats, and four RBIs, and a .626 OPS, and a .204 batting average.

For Pete’s sake, why?

Any theory has to begin with the fact that though Alonso keeps a handy notebook on his at-bats, pitchers are now armed with a notebook on him.

And no one is immune from a sophomore slump, especially during a season where every pitch, every game, means so much more.

Especially when that sophomore cares so much about the world around him that he launched his Homers for Heroes Foundation to honor everyday heroes of the pandemic.

It is easy to lose your clear mind and your timing and rhythm when you burn inside the way he does to be a champion on the diamond and off it. When you see him banging his bat on the dugout floor, you can rest assured he’s squeezing it too tightly at the plate.

Then there is the infamous Yoenis Cespedes opt-out, which leaves one less potential menace protecting him in what was going to be a lengthened lineup.

Alonso is a self-starter, but there should be no doubt he misses the torrid love affair he enjoyed with Mets fans while setting the rookie home run record. The cardboard cutouts can’t fuel his fire.

It can’t help that hitting coach Chili Davis is working remotely in Arizona because of a pre-existing health condition.

Home runs sometimes come in bunches for sluggers, and at least Alonso is 4-for-12 over his past three games — one small step for man, perhaps one giant leap for Metkind on its way.

Pete Alonso won’t be sneaking up on anyone this season. What the Mets hailed as a dangerous lineup has left runners in scoring position early and often. Alonso will always continue to grind, but he might be better served if he learned how to relax, and not feel as though his team and his #LFGM fan base are waiting for him to carry them. Even though they are.