The Baltimore Orioles have been up-and-down for much of the 2026 season, but the team have done enough to hang around in the Wild Card race, and now, they’ll look for a strong seven weeks to finish their campaign on the right note.
It’s not going to be easy for this team to book a spot in the post-season given how crowded the playoff race is in the American League, but with a good run home, they could shock the baseball world. Their run home continues on Friday as they begin a series with the division rival Tampa Bay Rays, and after making a shock change on star slugger Pete Alonso, he’s addressed his new position in the lineup.
Pete Alonso Compares Himself to Kyle Schwarber
GettyPete Alonso of the Baltimore Orioles.
For the first time in his Major League Baseball career, Pete Alonso will hit in the leadoff spot against the Rays, and given his power, it’s not a position that he would have ever expected to find himself in.
However, the Oriole clearly value what he can give them, so giving him the most amount of at bats as possible makes plenty of sense, and it’s something that other teams have started to do in recent years. The most obvious example of that is with the Philadelphia Phillies and Kyle Schwarber, so when addressing the move in the lineup, Alonso naturally compared himself to the Phillies All-Star.
“I’m not saying me and him are the same guy, but I’m, like, Schwarber-adjacent,” Alonso said. “I can be the right-handed Schwarber, why not?”
Clearly Schwarber is one of the best power hitters of this generation, and in the leadoff spot, he’s done what very few power hitters in baseball have been able to do, so when moving Alonso to the position, the Orioles likely had Schwarber’s success in mind.
Can Alonso Thrive in the Leadoff Spot?
Traditionally, the leadoff spot in baseball was for the quickest player that could make an impact on the base paths when they get on, but in recent years, that trend has started to change, and now we see more and more home run threats hitting in that spot.
However, with a .259 average, an .833 OPS and 26 home runs, Alonso leads the Orioles in all three categories, meaning that while his power remains his biggest threat, Alonso has been getting on base as much as anyone on the team, so this threat at the top of the lineup could help Baltimore in several different ways.
Only time will tell if this move for Alonso is permanent, but given how much he’s valued in the middle of the lineup, if he can come anywhere close to Schwarber’s impact with the bat in the leadoff spot, this could turn out to be a move that positively effects the Orioles chances in a big way throughout the remainder of 2026.
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