Friday, September 25

Welcome to another edition of the Orioles Beat newsletter. The O’s are wrapping up their 2026 season this weekend at Yankee Stadium, beginning with a Friday doubleheader.

NEW YORK -- The Orioles will not be heading to the 2026 postseason.

Although the O’s were off on Thursday, they were eliminated from playoff contention when the White Sox recorded a 9-1 win at Kansas City and clinched a berth for themselves. Baltimore’s odds of reaching the postseason had been low for quite some time.

With only three games remaining on the schedule (all vs. the Yankees in New York this weekend), the Orioles will look to finish strong and build positive momentum toward the offseason. And while no playoff stakes will be involved, there are still things to watch for.

Here are five things to keep an eye on during Baltimore’s final series of the season.

1. Attempting to finish .500
The O’s can’t end up with a winning record, but they can still get to .500. However, they’ll need to sweep the three-game set at Yankee Stadium to make that happen, and they haven’t swept a series of three-plus games in the Bronx since June 6-8, 1986.

Baltimore is guaranteed to have a better record than it did in 2025 (75-87). It hasn’t had a year in which it finished exactly .500 since going 81-81 in 2015.

“Regardless of what the record is, I just want to play good baseball, good quality baseball, and whatever we have left in the tank, just empty the tank. Because after 162, that's it, you’ve got to wait until spring,” first baseman Pete Alonso said. “Hopefully, we win all three, because that's the goal. We want to win every game that we play, regardless of the standings.”

2. How many more homers can Alonso hit?

Through 159 games, Alonso has clubbed a team-high 41 home runs during his first season with the Orioles. And he’ll surely play all three at Yankee Stadium, as he hasn’t missed a game since the 2023 season.

Here’s the list of 41-plus-homer seasons in O’s history (since 1954):

1. Chris Davis -- 53 in 2013

2. Brady Anderson -- 50 in 1996

3. Frank Robinson -- 49 in 1966

T-4. Davis -- 47 in 2015

T-4. Mark Trumbo -- 47 in 2016

6. Jim Gentile -- 46 in 1961

7. Anthony Santander -- 44 in 2024

8. Rafael Palmeiro -- 43 in 1998

9. Alonso -- 41 in 2026

Considering Alonso has six home runs over his past eight games (including three during a three-game sweep of Toronto earlier this week), it’s possible the 31-year-old slugger will add a few more to his total, potentially passing Palmeiro and perhaps even Santander.

3. RBI history for Alonso?

Another feat that Alonso could accomplish is one no player has done before.

There’s never been an MLB player to post a pair of seasons in which he led each of the two leagues (American and National) in RBIs, since RBIs became official in 1920. Alonso led the NL with 131 RBIs in 2022, and this year, he leads the AL with 110.

4. More of The Mountain

Félix Bautista made an emotional return to the Orioles earlier this week after missing more than a year due to right shoulder surgery. The 31-year-old former All-Star closer was quite familiar with long recoveries, as he previously missed all of the 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Bautista has made a pair of appearances since rejoining Baltimore’s bullpen. He allowed one run in two-thirds of an inning vs. the Brewers on Sunday, then yielded two runs in one inning against the Blue Jays on Wednesday.

The results aren’t too important at the moment, especially because Bautista hasn’t yet reassumed his closing duties. But it’s encouraging that he’s getting a few big league outings in before entering the offseason and looking to return to his previously dominant form in 2027.

“I stayed firm the entire time, focused on the hard work,” Bautista recently said via team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “I knew that it was just as long of a road [as Tommy John], and it took a lot of time. But my entire focus the entire time was just on the work itself.”

5. Trevor Rogers’ potential final O’s start

The winner of the 2025 Most Valuable Oriole Award, Rogers has been one of Baltimore’s best starters over the past two seasons. The 28-year-old left-hander has a 4.07 ERA in 29 starts, but he had some struggles early in the year. Since June 4, he has a 2.92 ERA over 19 starts.

Rogers is scheduled to start Game 2 of Friday’s doubleheader at Yankee Stadium. Will it be his final time pitching for the Orioles? He is set to become a free agent after the season, but it’s possible he’ll re-sign with the club. (He could also be a prime candidate to receive a qualifying offer, which would bring him back for one more year.)

• A twin bill with twin umpires? That’s what happened on Wednesday at Camden Yards, where Austin and Tyler Jones made history. More >>

• A pair of O’s pitching prospects (Joseph Dzierwa and Anthony Eyanson) were named finalists for the MiLB Pitching Prospect of the Year Award. More >>

• Alonso was the unanimous winner of the 2026 Most Valuable Oriole Award. More >>

“I'll be honest with you, it sucks for me in the aspect that I need to freaking win right now, because I don't have much runway left. But these young guys, the way that they have handled this year, a lot of struggles, some obviously good moments, but just the way that they have approached every day, I know it's setting up for something a lot more special in the future.” -- veteran right-hander Chris Bassitt, on O’s 2026 season

To subscribe to Orioles Beat, visit this page and mark "Orioles Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Orioles or that they're checked as your favorite team.

View Online

© 2026 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (mlb-newsletters@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.