Orioles’ Pete Alonso hitting leadoff for first time ever in curious decision

Nypost · Aug 14, 2026 · 347 words · By Dylan Svoboda

Baseball strategy Player Performance

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Pete Alonso did something Friday night that he’s never done before.

Claims checked 11

Techniques found 1

Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center0%

Right100%

1 source compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Pete Alonso did something Friday night that he’s never done before.

Why it matters

The former Mets slugger hit at the top of the Orioles’ lineup, going 2-for-5, in a 6-5 win over the Rays in Tampa Bay on Friday night.

Common ground

Alonso told MLB.com that his leadoff-less stretch goes back even further than that, saying it’s the first time he’s ever come to the plate to kick off a game.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Baseball strategy story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that having swiped just 23 bags in his eight-year career, although he’s already matched a career high with five this season?
How does this story connect Baseball strategy with Player Performance over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/08/14/sports/pete-alonso-hitting-leadoff-friday-for-orio…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 70% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 5

verified Verified By Reference 2

check_circle Corroborated 2

schedule Pending 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

verified

Claim 1: “having swiped just 23 bags in his eight-year career, although he’s already matched a career high with five this season.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While evidence confirms he is a home run hitter and plays for the Orioles, the specific career stolen base count (23) and current season count (5) are not present in the provided evidence.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2021 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby was a home run hitting contest between eight batters from Major League Baseball (MLB). The derby was held on July 12, 2021, at Coors Field in Denver, Colo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Major_League_Baseball_Hom…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Home Run Derby, officially known as the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, is an annual home run hitting competition in Major League Baseball (MLB) customarily held the day before the MLB All-Star Game, whi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Run_Derby

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Peter Morgan Alonso (born December 7, 1994), nicknamed "Polar Bear", is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously play…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Alonso

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 2: “the Orioles, who signed him to a five-year, $155 million free agent deal over the offseason.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Baseball-Reference explicitly lists his current contract terms as 5 yrs/$155M (26-30).

info

Claim 3: “Alonso’s .353 on-base percentage”

SINGLE SOURCE

The .353 on-base percentage is specifically mentioned in the AOL report, but not corroborated by other provided statistical sources.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 95th Major League Baseball All-Star Game played between the American League (AL) and the National League (NL) of Major League Baseball. The game wa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Major_League_Baseball_All…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer wooden-bat baseball and fastpitch softball organization. The teams are located in the greater Northwoods region of the Upper Midwestern United States (Wisc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwoods_League

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “it’s the first time he’s ever come to the plate to kick off a game.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources explicitly state that this was the first time in his career that Pete Alonso batted leadoff.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2024 Major League Baseball season (MLB) began on March 20–21 with a two-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres held in Seoul, South Korea, before the regular season p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Major_League_Baseball_sea…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 Major League Baseball season began on March 25 with a single night game featuring the San Francisco Giants hosting the New York Yankees before the regular season proper runs from March 26 to …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Major_League_Baseball_sea…

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 5: “The burly 6-foot-3, 245-pound home run hitter has registered a 25.3 mph sprint speed this season, ranking in the bottom 8 percent of major leaguers.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific details regarding his height (6'3"), weight (245 lbs), sprint speed (25.3 mph), and percentile ranking (bottom 8%) are found in a single Yahoo Sports report. While height/weight are generally consistent with other sources, the specific sprint speed and percentile are only in one source.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — John Robert Mize (January 7, 1913 – June 2, 1993), nicknamed "Big Jawn" and "the Big Cat", was an American professional baseball first baseman. He played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Mize

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of the 300 Major League Baseball players who have hit the most career home runs in regular season play (i.e., excluding playoffs or exhibition games). In the sport of baseball, a home …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Shohei Ohtani (Japanese: 大谷翔平, born July 5, 1994) is a Japanese professional baseball designated hitter and pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "Shotime", he…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shohei_Ohtani

+ 3 more evidence sources

check_circle

Claim 6: “The former Mets slugger hit at the top of the Orioles’ lineup, going 2-for-5, in a 6-5 win over the Rays in Tampa Bay on Friday night.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web sources (Yahoo Sports, AOL) confirm Pete Alonso batted leadoff for the Baltimore Orioles for the first time in his career during a series against the Rays.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 Baltimore Orioles season is the 126th season in Baltimore Orioles franchise history, the 73rd in Baltimore, and the 35th at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles look to improve on their 7…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Baltimore_Orioles_season

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Orioles

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 7: “Through the first half of the season, Alonso hit third or fourth in every game he started for Baltimore.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim that he hit third or fourth in every game he started for Baltimore in the first half of the season is mentioned only in the AOL source.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Pete Alonso of the Baltimore Orioles bats during a game against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Through the first half of the season, Alonso hit…
https://www.aol.com/articles/orioles-pete-alonso-hitting-lea…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Baltimore Orioles fell to the New York Yankees 5-3 on Wednesday night after Pete Alonso's clear go-ahead home run was somehow called foul after replay. Host Connor Newcomb tries to make sense of t…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKmp4MbHyzY

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — To get here, the Orioles needed a game like this from Henderson. As he has scuffled through 2026, Baltimore has relied on contributions from elsewhere, and Coby Mayo’s three-run home run in the fourth…
https://www.thebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/orioles-athleti…

schedule

Claim 8: “That contract looked ugly early on in 2026, with Alonso hitting .198 with just four home runs over the first month-plus”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 9: “Shortly after the All-Star break, Alonso started appearing in the two-hole”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence does not contain information regarding Alonso's batting order position specifically 'shortly after the All-Star break'.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Peter Morgan Alonso, nicknamed "Polar Bear", is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball. He has previously played in MLB for the New York Met…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Alonso

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Baseball America Short-Season All-Star. Year. Team.1B Pete Alonso assigned to National League All-Stars. June 18, 2023. New York Mets activated 1B Pete Alonso from the 10-day injured list.
https://www.mlb.com/player/pete-alonso-624413

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Pete Alonso. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-ref…
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/alonspe01.shtml

info

Claim 10: “Alonso spent the vast majority of his time in a Mets uniform in the cleanup spot.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While it is verified he played for the Mets, the provided evidence does not specify his batting order frequency (cleanup spot) during his tenure there.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — New York Mets placed 1B Pete Alonso on the 10-day injured list retroactive to June 8, 2023.New York Mets invited non-roster 1B Pete Alonso to spring training. July 16, 2018. Pete Alonso roster status …
https://www.mlb.com/player/pete-alonso-624413

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — How many hits does Pete Alonso have? Pete Alonso has 138 hits this season and has 1,089 hits over his career.Pete Alonso has played for 2 teams; the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/alonspe01.shtml

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Pete Alonso homered in his spring training debut for the Baltimore Orioles, providing the only runs in a 2-0 exhibition victory over the New York Yankees on Friday.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/feb/20/pete-alonso…

help

Claim 11: “Heading into the game, Alonso is hitting .259/.353/.480 with 26 home runs and 77 RBIs for the Orioles”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to verify these specific stats (.259/.353/.480, 26 HR, 77 RBI).

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.