Alonso is unanimous winner of Most Valuable Oriole award

BALTIMORE—In his first season with the Orioles, Pete Alonso was unanimously elected as Most Valuable Oriole.

Alonso, who signed a five-year, $155 million contract with the Orioles last December, became the ninth Oriole to hit 40 home runs on Monday night.

“It’s just them believing in who I am,” Alonso said. “I’m not trying to be anything different or anything more or less than who I am and what I can bring on a day-to-day basis.”

Besides the 40 homers, the 31-year-old first baseman leads the American League with 108 RBIs and is hitting .265 with an .869 OPS. He’s also played well at first base.

“That’s what you want,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “You want that person driving the bus, and with Pete, he’s the same every single day.”

Despite the Orioles’ disappointing season, Alonso excelled.

“This year we’re not where we want to be, but I want to win in the worst way, and I think regardless of the results this year, I feel hopefully take some time to reflect, we’ll be better next year. I’ll be sure of that.”

It’s his fourth season with 40 or more home runs and fifth with more than 100 RBIs. The first three 40-homer and four 100-plus RBI seasons came with the New York Mets.

“That’s something that is and will be a real positive for us,” president of baseball operations Mike Elias said about Alonso’s season. “He’s lived up to everything we would have hoped. He’s had a terrific season in terms of what he’s done on paper, but he’s really emerged as the leader of this team, and I think somebody that connects with our fan base, and so we’re very pleased to have him going forward.“

Receiving second- and third-place votes were Blaze Alexander, Samuel Basallo, Shane Baz, Kyle Bradish, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Rico Garcia, Gunnar Henderson, Coby Mayo, Trevor Rogers and Brandon Young.

Peter Schmuck and I voted for Alonso, Young and Mayo.

Alonso will be presented with his award before Wednesday night’s game.

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