Yesterday, the Orioles announced the return of infielder Jackson Holliday to the roster. Holliday’s activation ends a 3+ month stint on the IL after surgery to repair a broken hamate bone in his right hand. Originally, the expectation was that the former No.1 overall pick would make his return sometime in mid-April. Then again, the expectation was also that this Orioles team would be distinctly better than last year’s squad. Neither has come true, as Holliday rejoins an O’s team that is struggling
to get back to .500 and stay within striking distance of a Wildcard spot.
When the news of Holliday’s injury was announced back in February, the Orioles were losing their starting 2B and a high-upside player who could add length to a reimagined lineup. Now, Holliday is coming back to uncertainty; no one can be sure if he’ll make this lineup better or if the lineup really needs him.
Part of the reason it took so long for Holliday to make it back to the big leagues was a prevailing feeling of him “just not being right” throughout his minor league rehab assignments. Through 11 games with Norfolk to begin his rehab season, he was hitting .167 with a .453 OPS and 12 Ks. Those struggles led the O’s to recall him to Baltimore to reset, and then send him on a two-game rehab assignment with High-A Frederick. After some good swings with Keys, he returned to Norfolk, only for a 1st-inning strikeout (where he was visibly in pain) to put him back on the shelf after one AB.
After a 15-day break from rehab games, Holliday went 0-for-6 in three games with the Baysox, before finishing his final rehab stint in Norfolk with a four-game hit streak. Those last four games with the Tides saw Holliday hit a go-ahead home run and a triple to the deepest part of the park. That power surge was apparently all the Orioles needed to see, as a day later, he was back on the active roster.
Even with the recent announcement that Jordan Westburg will miss the entire 2026 season due to Tommy John surgery, fitting Holliday into the current infield mix isn’t straightforward. Jeremiah Jackson seemingly had a vice-grip on the starting 2B role after a hot start to the season. Through his first 21 games of the season, Jackson was slashing .296/.311/.535 with 5 HR and 17 RBI.
However, in 75 ABs since then, Jackson has gone from offensive revelation to struggling to hold on to his place in the lineup. After last night’s game against Tampa, Jackson is hitting .213 with a .307 slugging percentage and an OPS below .600. Jackson’s recent offensive downturn has him looking a lot like last year’s Jackson Holliday.
Jeremiah Jackson still has an edge defensively; he’s proven to be an above-average defender, while Jackson Holliday has shown to be a below-average defender through 200+ major league games. It’s possible that Craig Albernaz could platoon the two players, as JJ has a .707 OPS against LHPs this season, while Holliday posted a .735 OPS against RHPs in 2025.
At one point, there was also a thought that Holliday could help bolster their options at 3B—whether that meant the 22-year-0ld would play the hot corner himself or slide Gunnar Henderson to third and play Holliday at SS. A potential stumbling block to that proposition was the fact that Holliday had never played 3B in the majors, and only 38 career minor league innings at the hot corner.
The recent play of Coby Mayo may make the whole idea completely moot, however. Mayo was once the poster child for the greater struggles of the Orioles, as he struggled at the plate and in his attempt to adapt to life as a full-time MLB 3B. However, since his 9th-inning error cost the Orioles a loss in Miami, Mayo has been a different player. In his last 10 games, the 24-year-old is hitting .281 with a .529 slugging percentage, a current five-game hit streak and some moonshot home runs.
Mayo is in a group of Orioles, with Samuel Basallo, Gunnar Henderson and Pete Alonso, who all possess truly elite bat speed and raw power. We’re finally seeing him tap into that power with more consistent contact rates, and that means Mayo needs to remain in the lineup.
With Holliday, Craig Albernaz and the greater Orioles’ organization face the same dilemma they’ve stared down with Mayo, Colton Cowser and (to a lesser extent) Samuel Basallo. Through 200+ games and 850+ MLB ABs, Holliday has shown himself to be an aggressively average major league player. In terms of on-field output, Holliday’s career is closer to a utility player like Blaze Alexander rather than a star like Gunnar Henderson.
And yet, we can’t forget that this is a 22-year-old, former No.1 overall pick and former No.1 prospect in all of baseball. Just because Holliday hasn’t yet lived up to the talent that he displayed in the minors does not mean he is doomed to always be a league-average offensive player. Albernaz & Co. almost have to play him if for no other reason than he offers higher upside than Jeremiah Jackson, Alexander or any other option at 2B.
In all likelihood, Jackson Holliday’s reintegration into the lineup will not substantially change the fortunes of this baseball team any time soon. In fact, the change may not even be noticeable. But this Orioles team needs to start building momentum with small improvements and changes that give them a higher ceiling. And because of his immense untapped talent, Holliday will get the chance to contribute to those incremental improvements and steady raising of this team’s ceiling.
