Chris Bassitt praised Baltimore Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso.
Baltimore Orioles right-handed slugger Pete Alonso is heating up at the perfect time, and his teammate Chris Bassitt wants everyone to take notice. This week, Bassitt made a bold claim about Alonso, calling him one of the most underrated hitters in the game. He placed Alonso in rare company among American League bats.
“I really just don’t think Pete gets enough respect for how good he is offensively,” Bassitt said, via Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun. ”You can argue what statistics you want to look at, but I think he’s a top three hitter for sure in the American League.”
Alonso had just wrapped an emotional return to Citi Field, where he spent his first seven seasons playing for the New York Mets. During the trip he launched his 300th career home run against his former club. That blast even earned him a curtain call from the New York crowd.
The numbers back Bassitt up. Alonso is hitting .267 with a .361 on-base percentage, .864 OPS, 37 home runs and 102 RBIs. Alonso currently has the most RBIs in the entire American League.
He has stayed hot into September, homering four times in the month. He has been the middle-of-the-order force Baltimore hoped for when it signed him last winter to a five-year deal worth $155 million. Just as important, he has not missed a game this year, giving the lineup a steady anchor all year.
Bassitt did his part in the same series. He tossed 6 2⁄3 innings of one-run ball and struck out six during Wednesday’s 7-1 victory. That outing pushed him to 8-5 with a 4.64 ERA on the year. Bassitt has spent plenty of time on the injured list this year.
But he is producing at the perfect time and providing the starting rotation with some stability. Bassitt, now in his 12th big-league season and on his fifth team, signed a one-year, $18.5 million deal with Baltimore this past offseason.
Alonso and Bassitt are former Mets, and the two helped bury their old team earlier this week. They will hope to continue that momentum this weekend in a huge three-game set with the Milwaukee Brewers.
At 75-78, the Orioles are still alive in the American League wild card race with nine games left to play. They sit 3.0 games back of the final spot though, so they will need some help. If the Orioles are going to sneak into October though, Alonso will have to keep mashing. Bassitt clearly believes he will.
