On Thursday afternoon against the Rays, Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso hit a game-tying home run in the top of the sixth inning and made a nifty scoop of a throw in the dirt from his shortstop, Gunnar Henderson to end the inning.
Nonetheless the Orioles were defeated when the Rays rallied from a 3-1 deficit with four runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Such is life for Alonso who, after a slow start, has hit like his old self for the last three weeks to little avail. But the Orioles are 7-14 in their last 21 games and 21-29 through their first 50.
But it’s Alonso’s defense we want to focus on here, not because it’s been bad but rather because it’s been quite good and a major improvement from his final season with the Mets.
Alonso’s 4 Runs Saved this season are one run shy of the MLB lead at first base. Last season he had -9 Runs Saved. Alonso has done this by almost entirely removing mistakes from his game.
| 2025 | 2026 | |
| Runs Saved | -9 | 4 |
| Good Fielding Plays | 51 | 13 |
| Defensive Misplays & Errors | 31 | 3 |
A year ago at this time those who watched Alonso last year saw plays like this
and this
And those happened on back-to-back days. In all, Alonso had 9 Misplays & Errors related to throws he made last season. This season he has none. He also had
What there has been is plays like this
and this
And this, where the throw might be a little high. But it’s more reachable than it was a year ago.
Another way to look at it statistically is to compare how often he was credited for finishing a play after he touched the ball (in other words, had to make a throw to a base or step on the base) versus how many times he was penalized for not finishing a play on a ball he touched.
| 2025 | 2026 | |
| Finished the play | 131 | 39 |
| Didn’t finish the play | 18 | 2 |
As is usually the case for him, sliding, diving, and jumping is a prominent part of Alonso’s defensive game. He’s made 16 plays requiring one of those three efforts, most of anyone in the majors. He hasn’t changed in that regard. From 2023 to 2025 he had 87, a total surpassed by only Bryson Stott (105) and Andrés Giménez (90).
What Pete doesn’t have is enough teammates coming along for the ride. The Orioles rank 23rd in MLB in Defensive Runs Saved for the season, and in this three-week cold stretch in which the Orioles have gone 7-14, the pitching staff has a 5.96 ERA, second-worst in the majors.
