The Orioles went all in on power, and in 2027 they may finally have the kind of lineup that makes that bet look smart.
Pete Alonso’s five-year, $155 million deal set off the kind of hype that only one thing can create: a Baltimore order loaded with thump. ESPN’s Jeff Passan called it “A wrecking crew.” He pointed to Gunnar Henderson, Alonso, Jordan Westburg, Taylor Ward, Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, Sam Basallo, Dylan Beavers and Colton Cowser and suggested the Orioles might have the best lineup in baseball.
That didn’t happen in 2026.
Westburg, who blasted 35 homers in both 2024 and 2025, never got on the field after Tommy John surgery. Ward, coming off a career-high 36 home runs with the Los Angeles Angels in 2025, managed only seven for Baltimore - including just one at home - before being dealt to Seattle on August 3 rd.
Rutschman, who hit 20 in 2023, had eight before his trade. Holliday was slowed by injuries to both wrists and finished with seven home runs in 98 games, well below the 17 he produced in 2025.
Cowser dropped from 24 in 2024 to 13. Basallo finished his first full season with 18, and Beavers added nine.
Henderson and Coby Mayo each hit 24, but Alonso was the only one who truly matched the billing. He finished with 43 home runs, tied for the eighth most in club history.
Even with that kind of firepower, the Orioles didn’t come close to the club record some fans were dreaming about. They finished with 199 home runs, 10 th most in baseball. Milwaukee was second fewest in the majors with 154, and Tampa Bay ranked 22 nd with 169.
Of course, Baltimore’s love affair with the long ball has been baked into the franchise for decades. Earl Weaver’s old pitching-and-three-run-homer philosophy still hangs over the organization, and this group is cut from that cloth.
But home runs have never told the whole story in Baltimore. The Orioles have topped 200 homers 13 times, and the results have swung wildly. They reached the postseason in their three biggest power seasons - 257 in 1996, 253 in 2016 and 235 in 2024 - but they’ve also had years where plenty of pop didn’t save them from ugly records.
In 2019, they lost 108 games despite hitting 213 home runs, the third-most losses in team history. In 2017, they finished with 87 losses and 232 homers, which ranks fourth on the club’s all-time list.
Then there was 2023, when Baltimore won 101 games and the American League East while hitting only 183 home runs.
This year’s offense produced 22 three-run homers, with Alonso responsible for five of them, and also six grand slams. Alonso was the obvious choice for Most Valuable Oriole, but he simply didn’t always have enough traffic on the bases when he came up.
The good news for Baltimore is that the power foundation should still be there in 2027. Alonso will be 31 and fully settled in, unlike this season, when he was still shaking off the first-month adjustment that left him with just four home runs by April 30 th.
Henderson, who has already hit 28 homers in 2023 and 37 in 2024, could climb even higher. Mayo has 40-homer upside after belting 10 in August and September, and Basallo looks capable of pushing toward 30 as well.
The outfield, though, still needs more impact, and the Orioles may go get it. They did get double-digit home run production from players outside Passan’s projected lineup, with Christian Encarnacion-Strand providing 11 in the second half after arriving from Cincinnati in April, while Tyler O’Neill and Jeremiah Jackson each finished with 10.
There’s also help coming from the farm system. Wehiwa Aloy, the organization’s player of the year, hit 25 homers between Double-A Chesapeake and High-A Frederick. Ike Irish had 16 in 76 games for Frederick before a knee injury ended his season.
Victor Figueroa led Orioles minor leaguers with 27 home runs after being acquired from San Diego in July 2025, though he also struck out 155 times in 115 games for the Keys and Baysox.
Figueroa is not in the Orioles’ top 30 prospects, and neither is Vance Honeycutt, the team’s No. 1 pick in 2024. Honeycutt had a rough first two-plus seasons in the minors, but he did hit five home runs in 20 games for Chesapeake after hitting 10 in 93 games for Frederick and striking out 110 times there. He’s got three homers in nine Arizona Fall League games for Peoria.
Baltimore also took a different route in 2023 when it drafted Enrique Bradfield Jr. in the first round, choosing speed over raw power. Bradfield has only 12 home runs in 307 minor league games, but he has stolen 179 bases. This season, he hit four homers and swiped 44 bags in 98 games.
Mike Elias said Bradfield should make his Orioles debut in 2027.
In Other News...
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For the Orioles, the appeal is obvious: a developing lefty with a fresh track record and room to grow in a system that values depth on the mound. Hamson, though, has another layer to his baseball story, one that could eventually pull in a different direction if his climb keeps moving the way Baltimore hopes. [Read more 🡒]