[Warning: Mixed metaphors incoming. Polar bears don’t like the heat. But human ballplayers do go hot and cold, respectively and metaphorically.]
When the Orioles signed Pete Alonso last winter, they knew they what they were getting: the big, slow, mashing first baseman whose value resides entirely in the batter’s box. Not a fielder. Not a base stealer. A big bat, designed to hit dingers, strike fear in the hearts of opposing starters, and do little else.
So when Alonso dove headfirst into second base
in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s come-from-behind win against the White Sox—belly flopping across the bag on a hustle double that ignited the go-ahead rally—it felt like a statement… maybe? … about this team and its character, surely, but more importantly, about what version of Pete Alonso we might come to expect.
One double is a rounding error in the career of this five-time All Star. (He’s hit 185, if you were wondering.) But it felt encouraging in context. The truth is, through the first twelve games of 2026, Alonso has been… ice-cold. Not, to prolong this strained image, like a Polar Bear romping in the Artic; more like, well, a first baseman you worry might be overpaid, granted a generous five-year, $155 million contract. He’s hitting .188 with a .264 OBP and .556 OPS.
Wednesday didn’t fix that. But maybe it was the start of improvement. Twelve games, as we know, is nothing.
Also, there are other things going right. Alonso is pounding the ball right now. He’s posting career-highs in exit velocity (95.1 mph) and hard-hit percentage (60.6%). He’s walking at normal rates, and he’s not chasing, either.
The story seems pitch-specific. Alonso is a hitter who loves to hit fastballs, and this year, results-wise, despite good contact, it’s not going well: his average off heaters is .185, although with an expected average (.241) about seventy points better. Interestingly, the launch angle on this pitch is way down: 5 degrees. So is his bat speed: 72.9 mph, down from above 75 in most seasons since MLB Statcast started keeping track. With a lot of ground balls off heaters, this helps to explain why his power is way down, as evidenced by a career .261 ISO (isolated power) and a .104 mark so far this season.
Also, his strikeouts are up: 28.3% versus a career 22.9%. This seems to be driven by swinging strikes against breaking balls, a 40.7% whiff rate that’s a career high in the way you don’t want. It seems Alonso is having difficult timing up offspeed and breaking pitches, and he’s seeing more of them, especially on the first pitch, than ever.
Alonso is struggling to hit lefties (.100 LH vesus .211 RHP splits, respectively), but he’s struggling to hit lefty fastballs most of all. He still doesn’t have a hit off this pitch, despite already seeing 26 of them so far. As for right-handed pitchers, his worst work is against changeups: he’s still hitting .000 off these.
I’m curious about the bat speed, but otherwise, my best guess, these problems are fluky and small sample-size-based and shouldn’t continue. The weather is still cold, Alonso’s career lefty-righty splits are .260/.340, and power has always been his greatest strength. If I had to guess, I’d say he still hasn’t found his timing.
Back on Wednesday, that sixth-inning double came off an 86-mph sweeper from a right hander. This is a pitch Alonso hasn’t had much luck with all season. Instead, this time he put a charge into one to the gap, and then—the part you don’t necessarily expect from a man of his physical profile—he ran. Yes, he ran. Hard and true, pulling out a double with a dive into the bag and then scored on a wild pitch. It was a nice all-around effort.
Pete Alonso’s designated role on this team is clubhouse leader and big bat. So far, he hasn’t found the latter, for interesting reasons. But there’s a lot more to him as a hitter and he’s certainly earned a lot of trust with his impressive career track record and leadership already on this new team.
Once the power shows up, the Polar Bear will be an anchor of this lineup. He’s here to play.
The Orioles are now 6-6, back at .500 after Wednesday’s sweep-clincher over the White Sox, and they feel like a team that’s finding something. Whether Alonso ends up being a difference-maker in the traditional sense remains to be seen. But this week, when the moment called for effort over elegance, he delivered.
