AMAZING!! Jackson Holliday Is Shouldering an Overwhelming Amount of Responsibility for the Orioles’ Success

Baltimore Orioles 2B Jackson Holliday

Holliday got called up to The Show early last season but struggled mightily over 10 games with an apallingly low .170 OPS as well as 18 strikeouts in 36 plate appearances.

He did, however, perform better when he was called back up in late July for the Oriole’s stretch run, slashing .218/.285/.365. So there were certainly signs that the now-21-year-old is going to live up to his billing.

But it seems like Elias and Baltimore might be banking on that happening a bit too heavily.

Orioles may have overinflated expectations for Jackson Holliday

Elias, appearing on MLB Tonight, had this to say about what the Orioles are banking on when it comes to Holliday in the 2025 season:

“He’s a guy that we’re counting on. He’s somebody who got called into duty in the second half. We had a lot of injuries.

He was thrust into an everyday role in the playoff race, at a very young age. One of the brightest young talents in the sport.

He’s going to be a really special hitter. He’s somebody that we’re looking to take a big leap this year, now that he’s seen what the big leagues are all about.

He’s gone through some struggles like every player this day and age.

But this guy is a really exciting, prodigious, special young hitter. He’s going to have a great career.”

Elias is probably right.

With his youth and prodigious talent, there is every reason to believe Holliday is going to have a great MLB career.

The worrisome part if you’re an O’s fan, however, is that it seems like they believe that’s going to happen right away. Even with his improvement in the second half last season, there are still signs for concern.

While Holliday was better, he was still a below-league average hitter with a .650 OPS in the 50 games that he played in the second half of the season.

Furthermore, the strikeouts still piled up for him at an alarming rate, whiffing 51 times in 172 plate appearances over those final 50 games.

While it wasn’t the 50% strikeout rate he posted in April, a 29.6% strikeout rate over a larger sample size isn’t going to help anyone sleep at night.

To be sure, as Holliday continues to grow and mature as a player, as well as adjust to major-league pitching, we should see him improve continually.

The way Elias is talking, though, it seems as if they expect the youngster to immediately be a top-end contributor by making a “big leap”. Given his rookie season struggles, that’s still a bit difficult to believe.

I want to be clear that I remain bullish on Holliday long term. He has the goods to be one of baseball’s biggest stars. After his struggles in 2024, though, consider me dubious that all goes away in the 2025 season, despite Elias potentially thinking on the contrary.

Related Posts

Kurtenbach: The 49ers’ loss to the Dolphins was the perfect encapsulation of an imperfect season

San Francisco 49ers 17 – Miami Dolphins 29: The Niners are guaranteed a losing season after one of their worst performances of the campaign. Miami Dolphins linebacker…

Report: Heat are looking at their future books while mulling Jimmy Butler decision

The Miami Heat are looking at their future books when making a decision on Jimmy Butler’s future and any potential trade, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.

BREAKING: Steve Cohen Says Mets Ticket Sales ‘Exploded’ From Soto Signing

The Mets owner shared the news Saturday evening, then asked fans where they think the team will rank for ticket sales next season.

MLB News: Baltimore Orioles’ Offseason Strategy Mysterious to Baseball Insiders, Agents

While most know what the Baltimore Orioles need, few really have a grasp of what they actually intend to do. The MLB winter meetings are less than…

Why This San Francisco 49ers Game Is A Must Win – Gridiron Heroics

This Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers face an old rival in a game that could determine their playoff fate. The 49ers travel to Lambeau Field to take on the