When the Baltimore Orioles selected Jackson Holliday as the No. 1 overall pick back in 2022, they expected him to quickly become the face of the franchise.

Holliday showed his potential by fast-tracking through the minors and making his MLB debut in 2024.

Holliday was called up to the big leagues in April of 2024 and just a few short weeks later, he was back in the minors due to intense struggles in the majors.

Holliday eventually clawed his way back into the majors but finished 2024 with an underwhelming .189 batting average and struck out 69 times in just 60 games.

Baltimore expected big improvements from Holliday this past offseason and while he has gotten better, it is still not enough.

Jackson Holliday has improved but not enough for the Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles are in last place in the AL East.

While it is obviously still early in the season and even in last place are just 5.5 games out, not many would have anticipated Baltimore ever seeing the bottom of the standings in 2025. On paper, they are far too talented to be so far behind their division rivals.

Going into this past offseason, the Orioles were optimistic about Holliday as he had claimed to figure some things out and had changed his approach.

These adjustments have resulted in an improvement as Holliday is now hitting .237 this season with two homers.

However, through 24 games, he has still struck out 21 times. These improvements are so minor that it is time to face the cold-hard truth. He has to be better.

Of course being successful at the big-league level doesn’t just happen. Sometimes players need some time to work through struggles and hard times before they find themselves. Holliday has had his time.

As a No. 1 overall pick and the level of talent we all know he possesses, he has to be much better than he currently is for the Baltimore Orioles to be at their best. There is nothing wrong celebrating his improvements but they are far from his expectations.