Orioles fans see a surprising Pete Alonso trend that could flip quickly

The Baltimore Orioles have gotten some good things out of Pete Alonso; he's been the clubhouse veteran they'd been lacking, and his defense at first has been a pleasant surprise, but what they haven't gotten from Alonso has been the offensive prowess that was the driving reason for the Orioles signing him.

It is, of course, early in the season, but throughout Alonso's career as a Met, he had typically been a fast starter. He has a career 143 wRC+ in the first month of the season, and last season, his April wRC+ was 213. Those numbers tower over Alonso's 68 wRC+ in his first three weeks of being an Oriole.

The month of April is not over, so there is certainly time for Alonso to have a hot streak and get those numbers back up to where they've typically been. Really, what the bad numbers come from is the Orioles last two series. At the end of the Orioles second series of the year against the Rangers, Alonso was slashing .304/.385/.435, and there was no real concern, but during the Orioles ' road trip against the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago White Sox, Alonso went 2-for-25 at the plate with 8 strikeouts.

Slumps happen, even great hitters have bad weeks. If Alonso had this stretch in July, his numbers would not be so dramatically effective, and it might have flown under the radar, but in the first weeks of the season, a slump feels enormous.

Is Pete Alonso's Orioles' slump a sign of things to come?

Looking at Alonso's advanced stats, there are some positives. He is still at the very top of the league in average exit velocity and hard-hit percentage. Hitting the ball hard and hitting the ball hard often are two of the most predictive stats that forecast success. It's not like Alonso is running unsustainable whiff and strikeout numbers to get these exit velocities like some guys have to do to hit the ball hard. That's all very good and indicates that Alonso is due to bounce back soon and be a productive hitter. The Orioles don’t have to worry about him hitting below the Mendoza line for the entire season.

The most concerning, though, is Alonso's bat speed. Since they started measuring bat speed, Alonso's has held steady at about 75 mph. That's elite, and a big reason he's been as productive a power hitter as he's been. This year, the hit bat speed is down to 72.9 mph. That is a big difference. Even though in the context of the league, 72.9 mph is still above average, going from elite to above average is a big drop.

It is common for hitters to lose bat speed as they age, and the Orioles knew that Alonso's would drop over the course of the five-year contract he signed, but dropping by 2 mph in the first month he's an Oriole is not a good sign.

Having a slower bat speed changes who you are as a hitter and helps explain why Alonso has struggled so much against fastballs. In 2025, Alonso was 5.9 runs above average against four seamers, 4.7 against cutters, and 8.3 against sinkers. So far in 2026, those numbers are -2.0, -0.9, and 0.9, respectively. Alonso is getting blown up by fastballs because he can't get his bat to them the way he's used to.

With that being the case, here is another question: Is this dip in bat speed permanent, or can he do something?

As mentioned, many hitters see a decline in bat speed as they age, but 31 years old is quite young to experience a 2 mph drop-off, so it's possible there's an explanation for this drop outside of him being washed now.

One of the things that's been talked about a lot with Alonso is that he's adjusted his stance this year to give himself a better shot at breaking balls, which he's always struggled with. Is it possible this new wider stance is costing Alonso bat speed?

Sometimes batters slow down their bat speed to try to hit for more contact. Is Alonso slowing down his bat on purpose to try to time up breaking balls? Only Alonso and his coaches know for sure. Hopefully, the bat speed ticks back up, and he sees a corresponding jump in productivity.