From Baltimore Orioles On SI · · 2m
Pete Alonso Went Cold And The Orioles Are Sinking
For 30 games Alonso carried Baltimore's lineup. Fifteen games later he's hitting .170 and the Wild Card is slipping away.
In brief
For 30 games Alonso carried Baltimore's lineup. Fifteen games later he's hitting .170 and the Wild Card is slipping away. The Orioles don't need Alonso's 30-game tear back, they need him somewhere in the middle, and they need it in the next two weeks. Originally reported by Baltimore Orioles On SI.
He carried the whole lineup
For a solid month, almost nobody in baseball was more impactful than Pete Alonso. Not Yordan Alvarez, not Pete Crow-Armstrong, both legitimate MVP candidates.
“For a solid month there was probably no more impactful hitter in baseball than Pete Alonso.”
Cooling off was fine
Nobody expected the tear to last. What Baltimore could not survive, sitting 17 games out of the AL East and clawing at another hole, was a full collapse.
Then he collapsed
Over the last 15 games the bat went quiet. An 8-2 stretch with Alonso driving it turned into 3-7, heading into another must-win in Toronto.
The calf cramp question
Rookie manager Craig Albernaz called it a calf cramp. Expect the real story to come out once the season is over, because this looks like more than a cramp.
“I suspect when this season concludes we find out that what overmatched rookie puppet manager Criag Albernaz called "a calf cramp" was quite more than that.”
Put him back at DH
Alonso has a .974 OPS in 19 games as a designated hitter, slugging .583, a full 100 points better than at first base. Coby Mayo and Samuel Basallo can both handle first.
The numbers, side by side
Last 15 games: .170/.318/.281, two homers, six RBI. The 30 before that: .317/.430/.698, 11 homers, 25 RBI, 81 total bases.
It isn't only Alonso
The pitching regressed too. Starters are past career-high innings totals, and after the Tyler Wells trade nobody was built to close out the ninth.
He's batting second regardless
Given what Elias is paying him and how this front office builds lineups, Alonso hits second or third no matter how badly he scuffles.
“ain't no way Alonso is doing anything but hitting second or third no matter how bad he scuffles”
Fix the order around him
Dylan Beavers and Mayo are locked into the top four. Gunnar Henderson should not be hitting above fifth. Get Alonso productive and the batting order starts making sense again.
A homecoming with stakes
Toronto, then the Mets in his old ballpark as he chases career home run No. 300. Win those and Baltimore stays alive into the final homestand.
The headline
The Orioles don't need Alonso's 30-game tear back, they need him somewhere in the middle, and they need it in the next two weeks.
