Pete Alonso is carrying the Orioles on his shoulders

The race for the playoffs in the American League, as we know, is pretty wild. The final wild-card spot is up for grabs in a seven-team race.

And in reality, the three divisions aren't decided yet either. We suspect the Rays, the Yankees, and the Red Sox will make the playoffs, but everything else is still up for grabs.

And while we often talk about teams like the Blue Jays, the Mariners, or the Guardians, it's interesting to note that the Orioles, flying under the radar, are also right in the thick of this race.

On paper, the team hasn't had a great August, with a 10-13 record. That said, there's one guy working (very) hard to carry the O's on his shoulders: Pete Alonso.

The first baseman is having an absolutely mind-blowing August, batting .398 with a 1.173 OPS and eight home runs since August 1.

He's leading the Majors in just about every offensive category since the start of the month.

Alonso, who was Baltimore's big offseason signing, is establishing himself as the face of the team that just traded Adley Rutschman. Since the start of the month, no player has a higher WAR than him.

Seeing him ahead of Pete Crow-Armstrong—who's racking up a ton of recognition for his defensive play in center field—speaks volumes about Alonso's excellence at the plate.

It's clear that Alonso, even if he isn't necessarily surrounded by the best support, is doing everything in his power to lead his team to the playoffs. He's absolutely unstoppable, and the Orioles must be happy to have him.

And the New York Mets, who've seen his replacement, Jorge Polanco, sidelined by injury all season, must be thinking they perhaps should have pushed a little harder to keep him in the Big Apple…

Created by humans, assisted by AI.