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Most of the anxiety surrounding the Baltimore Orioles this offseason has focused on GM Mike Elias, and whether he has or has not done enough to try and finally get the team over the hump in an increasingly rugged AL East.<\/p>\n
(Early returns suggest … probably not, considering Baltimore’s lack of starting pitching depth.)<\/p>\n
But not too far behind has been young infielder Jackson Holliday, who went from generational prospect to difficult conversation thanks to one of the more brutal rookie seasons in recent memory.<\/p>\n
Holliday’s struggles are well-documented at this point, from a 2-for-34 start in April to an eye-popping 33.2-percent strikeout rate.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t great, and both Holliday and the team know that it has to be better, especially considering the extent to which Elias cleared the deck for a starting job this offseason.<\/p>\n
And say this for Holliday: He’s leaving no stone unturned as he looks to figure out what went wrong in 2024 and fix it in 2025.<\/p>\n
That’s true physically, as he’s been the subject of an extended round of Best Shape of His Life discourse since O’s camp began last month. And it’s also true mentally, as he’s been willing and humble enough to seek out advice from the best sources available.<\/p>\n
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray\u2019s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.<\/p>\n
Jackson Holliday getting infield pointers from Brian Roberts<\/strong><\/p>\n Brian Roberts’ career remains a big “what if” in modern Orioles history, derailed by injuries not long after his 30th birthday.<\/p>\n But what’s inarguably true is that Roberts could really, really pick it at second base, and as a former shortstop who had to learn the keystone on the fly, he knows something about what Holliday is going through right now.<\/p>\n Which is why it should be music to O’s fans’ ears to hear that Holliday has been pestering Roberts throughout spring training so far.<\/p>\n “I mean, he doesn\u2019t have to listen to me,” Roberts told MLB.com. “He\u2019s been [the first pick in the Draft] overall. Like, what do I have to tell him necessarily? They\u2019re just humble guys that want to get better.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n And it seems like that’s exactly what’s happened, so far at least.<\/p>\n Jackson Holliday said he\u2019s working on getting the ball to Gunnar Henderson faster on double-play turns.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s Holliday starting a quick 4-6-3 during #Orioles infield drills: https:\/\/t.co\/9EU5oNRNU1 pic.twitter.com\/aUKq5B2VXc<\/p>\n \u2014 Jake Rill (@JakeDRill) February 25, 2025<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be as accurate as possible. So when I do close myself off, it takes a little bit more into my arm opposed to into my lower half and it can be a little bit less accurate,\u201d Holliday said. \u201cIt\u2019s important to be able to turn a double play in the big leagues and get it over to Gunnar as consistent and in the same spot as possible.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Holliday’s defense has been a mixed bag at the big-league level so far. Clearly he has the athleticism, but his arm strength has been a bit stretched, and he’s suffered from fundamental lapses at times.<\/p>\n If there’s a silver lining here, it’s that those are the sorts of things that you can iron out with time and effort, and those \u2014 plus some famous faces \u2014 are two things that Holliday has on his side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most of the anxiety surrounding the Baltimore Orioles this offseason has focused on GM Mike Elias, and whether he has or has not done enough to try… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n