Pete Alonso tried to be a hero. He turned into a meme instead.
The Baltimore Orioles first baseman attempted what he thought was a slick heads-up play this week, going for a double play that required him to read the runner, throw to second, and let the catch happen at first. None of it worked. The throw was off. The runner was safe. The Orioles ended up giving up extra runs and losing the inning completely.
This was the Polar Bear trying to do too much. And the Orioles paid for it.
The Play
With a runner on first and a slow ground ball to Alonso, the smart move is to take the easy out at first. Alonso saw the runner break and decided he could get two. He airmailed the throw. The runner at first went to second. The hitter reached safely. Two runs scored before the inning ended.
Twitter went nuts. Highlight shows ran it on loop. The Orioles announcing crew did their best to defend him in real time, but you could hear the disbelief in their voices. Even Cal Ripken would have looked at that play and asked why.
The Orioles Just Paid This Guy $155 Million
Baltimore handed Alonso a six-year, $155 million deal this offseason to be the middle-of-the-order bat that pushes them past the Yankees and Blue Jays. The bat has been fine. The defense has been a story all year. Alonso is a below-average first baseman by every advanced metric, and plays like this one are exactly why front offices were nervous about the contract.
The Orioles do not need Alonso to be Keith Hernandez at first base. They do need him to make the routine play and not give away extra outs. He is failing on that basic standard more often than they expected.
What This Means for Baltimore
The AL East is going to come down to which team can stay healthy and execute the small details. The Orioles have the offensive firepower. Adley Rutschman is an MVP candidate. Gunnar Henderson is one of the best young shortstops in baseball. The lineup is loaded.
But baseball games are decided in the moments where you give an opponent a free base or a free run. Alonso has cost them several of those already. If this keeps happening, the Orioles will have to think about defensive replacements late in tight games. That is not the conversation you want to have about your $155 million first baseman.
Pete Alonso the hitter is exactly what Baltimore paid for. Pete Alonso the defender is exactly what they feared.
The next clever play needs to wait.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
