It’s hard to accomplish more than what Pete Alonso did in his seven years with the New York Mets.
He set MLB’s rookie home run record and became the Mets’ single-season home run king in 2019 while also becoming New York’s all-time home run king in 2025. But all of that — along with never hitting fewer than 34 taters in a full season for New York — wasn’t enough for the front office to make a legitimate effort to re-sign the slugging first baseman.
Instead, the Polar Bear went south on I-95 to the Baltimore Orioles after signing a five-year, $155 million deal. While he’s only been there for one season, it’d be hard to find anyone saying he hasn’t been worth every penny so far.
Baltimore has missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season, but Alonso did everything he could to keep his club in contention down the stretch. Across plate appearances, the right-handed slugger slashed .267/.363/.522 with 43 home runs, 24 doubles, 113 RBI, and 100 runs scored. His performance was worth 5.0 fWAR, which is a single-season career-high mark.
How can we properly put his huge first season in Baltimore into perspective? The following three stats will certainly help.
Pete Alonso Is a 40-Homer Machine
Hitting 40 homers in a season isn’t new for Alonso. Before he even donned the orange and black for the Orioles on Opening Day in 2026, it was a feat he accomplished three times in Queens for the Mets (2019, 2022, and 2023).
Would it be surprising if Alonso’s first season in Baltimore got off to a slow start? Of course not — he joined a new team on a big-money contract and switched from the National League to the American League.
And it was a slow start for the right-handed slugger. His first 31 games (134 plate appearances) included a .198/.306/.362 line with four homers, seven doubles, 13 RBI, and 17 runs scored. But it was lift-off from there for the Polar Bear.
After posting a .668 OPS through the end of April, he never finished another month with an OPS lower than .840. It’s also worth noting that 20 of his 43 homers came in August and September alone.
But here we are, at the end of another regular season, and Alonso will head into the winter with more than 40 homers on the year. It’s the fourth time he’s accomplished that feat as a big leaguer, and the second time he’s done it in his first year playing for a club.
According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, he’s just the fourth player in history to get this done, joining Nelson Cruz (who did it three times, and once with the Orioles!), Juan Soto, and Jim Thome.
But It Goes Even Deeper Than That
Isn’t that enough to show how impressive Alonso’s year was for the Orioles? Well, yes — but there’s more!
As mentioned above, he burst onto the scene in 2019 for the Mets by slugging 53 homers. And Alonso’s 2026 campaign didn’t just include him switching teams — he also switched leagues for the first time in his career.
If you’re curious as to how many times we’ve seen a player slug 40-plus homers during their first season in each league, it’s quite rare. So rare, in fact, that Alonso is the first player to do it, according to OptaStats:
In his first season playing in the NL, Pete Alonso hit 53 homers.
In his first season playing in the AL, he has hit 40.
He's the only player all-time to hit 40+ homers in his first season in each league. pic.twitter.com/jjEoxVolcQ
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) September 22, 2026
That’s pretty neat, right? As you can imagine, mashing all these taters also comes with plenty of RBI, which brings me to the final stat I’d like to call out here.
Alonso Also Has Been an RBI Machine
Racking up lots of RBI has never been a problem for Alonso throughout his career. He made that known immediately in 2019 by racking up 120 RBI and nearly breaking the Mets’ single-season franchise record.
He eventually made that happen in 2022, and his 131 RBI also led the National League. Before signing his five-year deal with Baltimore, Alonso passed the 100-RBI plateau four times for the Mets. And when looking at seasons with a 162-game schedule, he finished a year with fewer than 90 RBI once (it happened in 2024 when he drove in 88).
The 2026 campaign is Alonso’s fifth 100-RBI effort, but it goes a bit further than that. His 113 RBI are first in the American League, now giving him a single-season RBI crown in both the NL and AL.
With him on the verge of doing this, Langs pointed out on September 21 that it’d be the first time we’d ever see something like this:
Pete Alonso now has 108 RBI, nine more than anyone else in the AL
He led the NL (and tied for MLB lead) in 2022
No player has had a season leading each league in RBI in his career (RBI since 1920)
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 22, 2026
Alonso also did all this while being a constant in the Orioles’ lineup, playing in every game this season. It’s the third straight year the 31-year-old hasn’t missed a game. Overall, it was just an outstanding year for the slugger, and probably the best kind of first impression he could’ve made in Baltimore.
We’ll see what kind of production he brings throughout the duration of his contract, but he’s finished 2026 by leaving no doubt about what he brings to the table.
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