The Orioles are set to hand Pete Alonso the Most Valuable Oriole next week, and that’s hardly a surprise. Even in a disappointing season, Alonso has delivered.
But he’s not the only reason the year has produced a few bright spots. A handful of unexpected contributors have given Baltimore real production in places nobody saw coming.
Josh Walker is the kind of pickup that usually gets a second look only because the numbers force it. The 31-year-old reliever entered the season with just 27 major league appearances across the Mets and Toronto, and his previous work didn’t exactly scream breakout. He posted a 6.45 ERA in 24 games with New York and a 7.20 mark in three games for the Blue Jays last season.
None of that hinted at a trusted left-hander. Yet Walker has now run off 18 straight scoreless outings, the best streak by any Oriole in 10 years, and his ERA sits at 1.61. With Keegan Akin rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, the door was open for someone to step in, and Walker has taken full advantage.
“It just speaks to the player and all the work they’ve put in,” manager Craig Albernaz, especially a guy like Josh Walker, who’s really come into his own, and like I keep on talking about, development is messy. You never know when it’s going to click for somebody, and for Walker it seems like it’s clicking now.”
Another name that has gone from afterthought to useful piece is Alex Hoppe. The right-hander came over from Seattle in the trade for Taylor Ward and has quietly turned himself into a productive arm. Hoppe picked up his first major league win on Tuesday night, and he and Alonso - after Alonso hit his 300 th home run - were both celebrated with beer showers and individual laundry cart rides.
“That’s what makes baseball great,” Albernaz said. “You have those team moments and then you also recognize the small, individual accomplishments.”
Hoppe’s numbers tell the story clearly. He had a 5.79 ERA in 24 games with Seattle, then has followed with a 1.42 ERA in 16 games for Baltimore.
On the position-player side, Christian Encarnacion-Strand has turned a low-key April acquisition into a legitimate offensive presence. The Orioles brought in the third baseman in April, and the move barely registered at the time. Since then, “CES” has spent time biding his time at Triple-A Norfolk, where he hit .273 with 17 home runs and 48 RBIs in 61 games, along with an .846 OPS.
He kept waiting as other players got the call, and his chance finally came when Blaze Alexander broke his left hand in the final game before the All-Star break. In 51 games, the 27-year-old is batting .277 with an .846 OPS, 10 home runs and 35 RBIs.
Encarnacion-Strand had already shown he could hit in the majors. In 2023 with the Reds, he put up a .270 average, an .805 OPS, 13 home runs and 37 RBIs in 63 games.
That leaves Baltimore with a good problem heading toward 2027, when Alexander, Coby Mayo and, hopefully, a healthy Jordan Westburg are all in the third-base mix.
Mayo has his own case to make, and it’s a strong one. He’s hitting just .255, but his .755 OPS tops Samuel Basallo and Gunnar Henderson. His 24 home runs and 63 RBIs trail only Alonso, and his unlikely inside-the-park homer was one of the season’s most memorable plays in 2027.
He has also been especially dangerous against left-handers, batting .321 with a 1.112 OPS, and his second-half line is even more impressive: .269 with an .890 OPS, 12 homers and 29 RBIs.
“His first full season in the big leagues, navigating that, and the player he’s turned into, the force he’s turned into,” Albernaz said.
Then there’s Luis De León, the Orioles’ No. 7 prospect, who might have seemed more likely to get a late-season look as a starter. Instead, Baltimore saw a chance to use the left-hander out of the bullpen, and the move has paid off. In six games, De León has a 2.45 ERA, has allowed only three hits in 7 1/3 innings, and has struck out five while walking two.
At Norfolk and Double-A Chesapeake, he averaged just under five walks per nine innings, so the early command has stood out.
“It’s great to see how he’s handled his first big league stint,” Albernaz said.
De León also brings a personal touch that makes him easy to remember: a collection of Muhammad Ali caps, unusual for a player born in the Dominican Republic nearly 30 years after Ali’s prime.
Like Encarnacion-Strand, he gives the Orioles another interesting decision to sort through. Do they keep building on what he’s done in relief, or let him compete for a starting job in 2027?
Left-hander Cade Povich will be recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to start Friday night’s game against Milwaukee, according to a report in the Baltimore Sun, which was confirmed by an industry source. Norfolk outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. is out with right adductor tightness. He’s injury is considered day-to-day, but the Tides’ season ends Sunday.
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The debate stretches beyond one selection or one prospect, even as names like Adley Rutschman and Bobby Witt Jr. inevitably come up in any serious evaluation of the era. Former manager Buck Showalter also added another layer by pointing to the challenge of developing players and keeping them flexible across positions, a reminder that roster-building is never just about talent acquisition. For the Orioles, the larger issue is whether Elias methods have produced enough progress on the field to quiet the questions that have followed the club through its recent struggles. [Read more 🡒]