BALTIMORE -- Coming off Monday’s off-day, Pete Alonso walked into the Orioles’ clubhouse at Camden Yards on Tuesday afternoon with a fresh haircut and the same positivity he’s brought every day since the beginning of Spring Training. The Polar Bear wasn’t feeling concerned about the club’s uneven start, the 13-15 record or even the tough back-to-back losses vs. Boston.
“It’s just one of those things where it’s still early,” Alonso said. “If we do what we’re supposed to do, if we end up a game above .500, or right at .500, at the end of the month -- obviously, not a perfect start, but honestly, it could be a lot worse.
“There have been some great moments we’ve had, I think, to kind of set ourselves up. It’s a long season. We’ve done a good job of minimizing the tough times. So we’re looking for a nice little bounceback. Not just today, but this whole series [this week vs. Houston].”
It’s important to remember it’s still early for Alonso, too -- not just this season, but in the five-year, $155 million contract he signed on Dec. 11. Eventually, the 31-year-old slugger should get his bat going, as his illustrious track record would suggest.
Tuesday night was an encouraging step forward for both Alonso and the O’s.
Alonso muscled a two-run home run to right-center field in the fifth inning (his fourth homer of 2026) to help lift the Orioles to a 5-3 victory in the opener against the Astros. Adley Rutschman (two RBI singles) and Samuel Basallo each drove in a run in the first to back right-hander Shane Baz, who tossed 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball to earn his first win in six starts for Baltimore.
There have been signs of an imminent breakout for Alonso, who is hitting .198 with a .659 OPS through his first 29 games with the O’s. He was drawing a lot of walks in the middle of the month (eight over six games from April 10-15), and he’s been making plenty of loud contact. (His 56% hard-hit rate entering Tuesday ranked in the 95th percentile of MLB.)
Even when Alonso hasn’t been hitting, he’s been playing tremendously at first base. His defense has been some of the best of his eight-year big league career -- as he showed again Tuesday, when his nice diving stop to rob Yordan Alvarez of a hit ended the top of the fifth.
“His defense right now has been better than advertised. It’s been elite for us at first base,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “So, it’s just on the offensive side of the ball, and he’s close. You can see it in the box, you can see it in his work. So I think once he kind of gets in that groove, I think it’s going to be dangerous.”
“He's a big body, but he moves so good,” Baz added. “I don't think he gets enough credit for his glove.”
But everybody is well aware of what the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Alonso is capable of with his bat. His reputation of being one of the game’s top power hitters came with him from New York, where he became the Mets’ all-time home run leader (264) while earning five All-Star selections, two Home Run Derby titles and a Silver Slugger Award.
That’s why nobody has been concerned about Alonso’s slower start to this season.
“Everyone knows how good Pete is. The guy is all-time,” Rutschman said. “Just for him, it was nice to see him get rewarded for his good swing decisions and hitting the ball hard. That's the guy he is, and he's a leader in this clubhouse and a leader on the field. Love to see him hit a nice homer today.”
The O’s offense hasn’t fully clicked, but it’s looking improved. Gunnar Henderson has nine home runs, Taylor Ward has been an on-base machine (a .313 average and a .426 on-base percentage) and guys such as Rutschman (a .462 average with 10 RBIs over his past six games) and Basallo (a .550 average with five RBIs in his past six contests) are raking of late.
It’s all the more reason for Alonso to have hope after an up-and-down first month for Baltimore.
“Has it been perfect? Absolutely not,” Alonso said. “But I think that’s actually a good thing, because handling adversity and having the ability to bounce back, you want to have that experience, you want to be battle tested, especially going into playoff time later. ...
“So I think it’s still early, but I think sky-high is our expectations, and the potential, for this team.”