{"id":776060,"date":"2026-08-11T17:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/776060\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T17:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T17:51:16","slug":"orioles-best-prepare-as-if-this-is-the-best-season-theyll-get-out-of-pete-alonso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/776060\/","title":{"rendered":"Orioles Best Prepare As If This Is The Best Season They’ll Get Out Of Pete Alonso"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pete Alonso took to being the face of the 2026 Baltimore Orioles quite quickly and has been about what could be expected at the plate and better than expected in the field and clearly a dominant outward voice in a long-wobbly clubhouse.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been very good, but nowhere close to an MVP candidate as he was at his very best with the Mets. And given the prevailing player development failures of Mike Elias<\/a> yet again atop the Orioles baseball operations (Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Colton Cowser, Heston Kjerstad, and until recently – Coby Mayo and Jackson Holliday, too) it hasn\u2019t been nearly enough to make this an even average MLB lineup since June 1<\/a>, let alone one that was supposed to achieve \u201cliftoff.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as he progresses deeper into his 30s in this five-year deal<\/a>, he is going to offer less of that unexpected defensive value at first base and will have to serve even more as the designated hitter, where they need the bat to be gravitations and not just quite good. Whether they ever get that or not remains to be seen, Elias\u2019s MLB-level transactions have largely failed, and Alonso is blocking Samuel Basallo and Mayo from getting more looks at first base, another reason they need him to be an elite run producer in a lineup that has far too few proven hitters in the clutch.<\/p>\n

With Henderson having just two years of team control beyond this season, and almost certain to join Rutschman as a trade export in 2027<\/a>, Alonso, 31, will be even more the face of this thing as Basallo and hopefully Holliday make a consistent impact and hopefully Jordan Westburg can stay healthy and Blaze Alexander can show that what he did from late April \u2013 getting hurt just before the All-Star break wasn\u2019t entirely fluky.<\/p>\n

This is his lineup and his clubhouse and Father Time is undefeated and his presence didn\u2019t prevent Henderson from completely falling apart this season (.675 OPS) and it didn\u2019t turn a streaky and middling and swing-and-miss and feast-or-famine offense from being anything but that this season \u2013 The Elias Way of Extreme Baseball Failure will always prevail over all \u2013 and as he creeps to age 35 good luck with that.<\/p>\n

Troubling Signs<\/p>\n

Alonso will end up with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in all likelihood and those are big boxes to check. After a very rough indoctrination to Camden Yards \u2013 left field twice butchered by Elias<\/a> \u2013 Alonso has settled in since July and his home\/road splits are negligible. That\u2019s encouraging.<\/p>\n

However, home runs are his calling card above all else, the AL East is a loaded division in regards to elite pitching, and his homer rate is 4.9%, lowest of his career and a far cry off the 7% from the season before. That\u2019s due in part to him not doing quite as much damage against fastballs as usual, and we know what happens with that as average FB velos keep shattering records and power hitters grow older and lose some of their twitch and the synapses fire a fraction of a second slower.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what Alonso has done against fastballs since the Covid-shortened season.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 FB%\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 XBH \u2013 HRs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 AVG\/SLG<\/p>\n

2026\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 55%\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 25 \u2013 16\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .270\/.500<\/p>\n

2025\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 55%\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 48 \u2013 28\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .306\/.614<\/p>\n

2024\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 58%\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 41 \u2013 23\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .264\/.522<\/p>\n

2023\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 57%\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 43 \u2013 28 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .239\/.542<\/p>\n

2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 60%\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 34 \u2013 20\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .270\/.484<\/p>\n

2021\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 61%\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 38 \u2013 17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .295\/.532<\/p>\n

He\u2019s going to need more protection around him as he grows older. Westburg drives people in when healthy, but man that\u2019s not often. Basallo is the most prodigious under-22 power hitting catcher<\/a> in MLB history (he turns 22 this week) and I believe he is a monster in the making.<\/p>\n

This part of why its imperative the Orioles ride Mayo and Holliday as much as possible<\/a> down the stretch to start seeing how the pieces fit for next season, especially with Henderson heading out of the picture. It\u2019s conceivable that this is the best season they get out of Alonso and the front office had best be mitigating against that worst-case scenario, though we know by now that\u2019s not how Elias operates.<\/p>\n

Subscribe To “The Daily Flock” On YouTube For Unflinching Orioles Coverage:\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pete Alonso took to being the face of the 2026 Baltimore Orioles quite quickly and has been about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":776061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2374],"tags":[143,47,2538,5,4,125],"class_list":["post-776060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-baltimore-orioles","tag-baltimore","tag-baltimore-orioles","tag-baltimoreorioles","tag-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-orioles"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117078149502011617","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=776060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/776060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/776061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=776060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=776060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=776060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}