BALTIMORE - Pete Alonso’s latest blast did more than keep the Orioles hanging around in the American League postseason chase. It also added fuel to a growing MVP case that, at least inside the clubhouse, is getting loud.
After Baltimore beat Toronto on Wednesday afternoon at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, teammate Chris Bassitt made the argument plain. Alonso’s season, Bassitt said, has been too big to ignore.
"Pete deserves MVP votes, and he deserves them every single year. That's just the reality," Bassitt said after earning his ninth victory of the season on Wednesday afternoon.
"He's one of the most underappreciated players in our game. He's easily in the top three hitters every single year."
The setting hardly felt like a typical high-stakes September environment. Tuesday night’s game between the Blue Jays and Orioles was postponed, turning Wednesday into a split doubleheader and leaving a crowd of 10,562 to watch the matinee. But Alonso still delivered a moment that carried real weight for Baltimore.
His latest hit continued a remarkable run of power. Each of Alonso’s last six hits has gone over the fence, making him the first Oriole to do that since Mark Trumbo hit seven home runs from Aug. 11-22, 2016.
Bassitt said the production isn’t some out-of-nowhere surge. In his view, Alonso has simply kept doing what he’s always done.
"He's not having a crazy historical year for his standards. It's just Pete being Pete," Bassitt said. "I think Pete has held the standard of what he's done for years, and I think people are not only realizing 'Holy s--t, this guy's really good' but that he's always been really, really good."
Alonso’s homer in Wednesday’s win kept the Orioles mathematically alive in the postseason race, but manager Craig Albernaz also wanted Bassitt’s work recognized. The right-hander needed just 90 pitches to get through his outing, a strong performance that helped Baltimore finish off Toronto in a game that felt important even in a thin crowd and a split-doubleheader setting.
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Still, moves like this tend to raise the larger question around Mike Elias rather than quiet it. Baltimore has steadily tried to build out its staff and improve the process behind player acquisition, and Holubs return is another piece of that effort, but the broader debate over whether the Orioles have enough impact in the front office to match their on-field ambitions is not going away anytime soon. [Read more 🡒]