Alonso showing his value as a veteran on the field and in the clubhouse

This story was excerpted from Jake Rill’s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BALTIMORE -- A little more than two hours before first pitch last Friday night at Camden Yards, Pete Alonso and Gunnar Henderson could be seen standing to the left of the cage during Orioles batting practice. Their teammates were rotating in and out and taking their swings.

Meanwhile, Alonso took his bat and got into a left-handed stance. The 31-year-old is a right-handed slugger, but in this moment, he needed to turn around so he could better demonstrate what he had been telling Henderson.

For much of the 2026 season, Henderson hasn’t quite been himself, hitting .220 with a .698 OPS through 130 games played. The 25-year-old is all ears when his teammates offer any advice.

Alonso has endured prolonged struggles, such as in 2024, when he had career lows in batting average (.240) and OPS (.788) while playing all 162 games for the Mets. He’s willing to share anything he learned during that experience, or any else for that matter.

“He kind of went through this very similar thing to what I’ve gone through this whole year,” Henderson said. “Being able to just kind of work with him on some stuff lower half-wise has been a real help.”

This wasn’t an isolated event. Alonso is always talking hitting -- before, during and after games.

Later on Friday, Alonso belted his 30th home run of the season -- a two-run blast in the fifth inning that lifted Baltimore to a 5-3 win over Tampa Bay. Once the game ended, he did an on-field interview for the Apple TV broadcast.

Less than 20 minutes later, Alonso was seated at his locker and talking to infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand about hitting. Their conversation was briefly interrupted when Alonso took a six-minute break to hold a media scrum. But Alonso made sure Encarnacion-Strand knew he’d be available to continue their talk once he was finished.

“He’s a top-notch individual, a leader of men,” left-hander Trevor Rogers said of Alonso. “But I think the best thing about him is you can go and talk to him about anything.”

There are so many reasons why Alonso has already been worth the five-year, $155 million contract the Orioles signed him to this past December. His offense has been as advertised. His defense at first base has been better than expected. His leadership is unmatched. His hustle rubs off on the players around him.

But Alonso is also knowledgeable, and his experience makes him a valuable resource to others. Sometimes, managers and staff will say having a veteran player is like having an extra coach. Alonso can offer that.

“It’s great to have an additional sounding board to kind of be a force multiplier for the coaching staff,” hitting coach Dustin Lind said. “Obviously, Pete’s been around a lot of really good hitters. He is a very good hitter himself, and so, insights that he can share with younger players are always welcome and we’re very eager to get him involved in that process.

“He’s done a great job leading our young group. A great veteran presence for us to have in the cages and in the dugout.”

Alonso is going to be in Baltimore for a while. And he’ll continue to be this way.

What is it about talking hitting that the Polar Bear enjoys so much?

“This group is awesome. And for me, I just want to be able to provide whatever I can,” Alonso said. “Whether it be sharing information, whether it be swing stuff or against pitching or seeing something in-game or, I don't know, there's a trillion different things that you can talk about the game, ins and outs of baseball. And that's the beautiful part about the game, and providing whether it be knowledge or just perspective, it's helpful for teammates, not just personally, but for the big picture.

“I think whatever can help on-field performance, I'm down to do. I'm down to help out whenever. I'm down to do whatever. Not afraid to get my hands dirty or offer perspective or even just listening or lending an ear. So, whatever it takes to win, I'm down for.”