Jon Meoli: Once Pete Alonso adjusted to fatherhood, he started slugging again

Pete Alonso knew everything was going to change when he signed his massive five-year, $155 million contract with the Orioles. He was leaving a Mets team that was the only one he’d ever known to uproot his family and come to Baltimore and serve as not only a staple in the lineup but also a newly installed pillar in the organization.

He managed that the only way he — and many other ballplayers — know: He tried to keep his routine the same as it always was.

What he found in his first month with the Orioles was that adding his son Teddy, whom Alonso and his wife Haley welcomed in September, into the mix meant things couldn’t stay the way they were.

“In April, it was like, ‘I’m just going to do what I’ve done for the past however many years,’ in-day routines and layouts and work,” Alonso told me. “And then over the course of it, I’m doing all the right things, but things were out of sync. It’s not one specific thing. It’s just more like, in a day, how can I get everything in sync and flow better?”

Any parent reading this understands. In time, Alonso will look back at how he went about his days as a ballplayer before he became a father and either wonder how he had that kind of time on his hands or, more realistically, not be able to remember what it was like, no matter how hard he tries.

What matters now, for him and the Orioles, is that he figured things out relatively quickly. He had a .688 OPS at the end of April — the slowest start he’s endured in his decorated professional career — but found a groove once May hit and hasn’t looked back. He has a .940 OPS and 27 home runs since May 1, making him one of the game’s best hitters in that period.

The way he’s carried himself since signing that contract has made the Orioles’ commitment to him worthwhile even when you put aside that production. His ability to recognize what needed to be changed about his routines and quickly implement that only enhances the image of the player the Orioles staked so much of their future on.

“I had to be a ballplayer and a father at the same time,” he said. “This is my first opportunity in the last year to kind of learn and navigate how to do that. I feel like, for me, a lot of it was like, ‘New team, new routines, and also how can I be at my best?’ There’s a major, major life change, not just a professional change.

“Once I kind of hammered that down and we got on a nice family schedule, then it kind of helped me kind of learn a lot about not just being an athlete — because before, I was just focused on being a good husband and doing the best I can between the lines. Now you’ve got to add another thing.”

The adjustment began in the offseason, though in a different form. Before the 2025 season, Alonso began working out at Diesel Performance, a Tampa training facility, where he underwent a full physical assessment and learned how his body moved and the ways in which he could more consistently get off his best swing. It led to the one of the best seasons of his career in 2025 — an .871 OPS and 38 home runs — and he was back this winter, albeit on an adjusted schedule, given his duties as a new father.

But Phil Wallen, CEO of Diesel Performance, said he never saw Alonso’s dedication or work ethic change.

That said, Alonso acknowledged that much did in the ensuing year. When he and his family came north to Baltimore, everything was still new. Even with his massive contract and outsized presence with the Orioles meaning he wasn’t just any old player, he still felt like the new guy, though he’s quick to point out how welcoming everyone was to him in Baltimore.

There was still plenty to adjust to. He had new game times, and a different schedule at home. Some ballplayers and their families choose to keep their babies on a baseball schedule, built around night games. By putting their child down for a full night’s sleep (to the extent such a thing exists with a baby) after the game, it gives everyone the chance to sleep as late as possible and keeps the whole family aligned.

The Alonsos opted to keep Teddy’s life “as normal and not baseball-schedule oriented” as possible, Pete said, which means earlier mornings, even after a late night and the inevitable wake-ups that come with young children. The schedule gives Alonso plenty of time with his family during the day, but also means his recovery process was “totally different” than it ever had been.

For a while, he tried to overlay the routine that helped him become one of the game’s most feared and consistent sluggers with the Mets onto this new lifestyle. Once he realized it wasn’t working, there was plenty to adjust.

“For me, it’s more like finding sleep, and finding downtime, recovering,” he said, though he noted that he only sometimes naps while Teddy does, acknowledging that Haley deserves whatever downtime comes her way for being an “absolute beast” this season.

“It doesn’t always have to be at night. It can be during his nap time, getting certain things done. And also doing certain things and managing certain things at the field, like maybe my normal lift schedule needs to be adjusted. Maybe, whether it be BP or ground ball schedule needs to be adjusted.”

Once Alonso started making these changes to his routine, he started performing closer to his own expectations.

He said: “I felt like May, for me, was like, ‘Oh, I feel like myself. Athletically, performance-wise,’ and I was like, ‘OK. This is me.’ I feel like I’ve been really consistent since May, and I just want to keep holding onto that consistency of success.”