![\"Jackson](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_123,w_6000,h_3375\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/229\/01jr1363vptrcb0q3g6w.jpg\")
<\/p>\nJackson Holliday is mashing, but the concerns persist.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Baltimore Orioles aren’t exactly rocking out of the gate, but Jackson Holliday looks awfully good.<\/p>\n
He’s batting .304 with an .812 OPS, including a home run and a stolen base. As Baltimore looks to chart its future with what remains one of baseball’s deepest talent pipelines, Holliday’s emergence could prove essential to the O’s postseason hopes.<\/p>\n
That said, let’s pump the breaks a little bit when it comes to praising the 21-year-old. Holliday’s talent is undeniable, both at the plate and in the field, but he’s still on the come-up.<\/p>\n
This is not the final product for the former No. 1 pick, and Baltimore fans need to be prepared for the inevitable step back.<\/p>\n
Holliday’s early numbers look great on the surface, and he finished the 2024 campaign with a impressive flourish.<\/p>\n
Still, he’s learning the ropes, which means adjusting to the elite control and power stuff of MLB pitchers. Some of the advanced metrics, such as whiff percentage and expected batting average, put a slight blemish on Holliday’s output.<\/p>\n
Jackson Holliday’s advanced metrics prove there’s still work to be done for Orioles star<\/strong><\/p>\n Holliday’s whiff rate (34.1 percent) and strikeout percentage (33.2) rank among the worst in MLB, per Baseball Savant.<\/p>\n We are six games into his second pro season, so we needn’t panic, but Holliday has been K’d eight times in 24 ABs \u2014 roughly a third of his trips to the plate. He has only drawn one walk by comparison.<\/p>\n Plate discipline was a huge struggle for Holliday in his turbulent rookie campaign.<\/p>\n Those issues persist. Holliday has plenty of time to figure things out at such a young age, but his current approach will yield inconsistent results. For every .300-plus six-game stretch like this, we’re bound to get a cold spell rife with strikeouts.<\/p>\n That isn’t necessarily a huge concern for the No. 7 hitter in Baltimore’s deep lineup, but if Holliday ever wants to move up the O’s hierarchy, he will need to start seeing the ball a bit better.<\/p>\n Holliday’s low expected batting average (.191) and slugging (.326) are especially telling. Point blank, he has been more than a little lucky out of the gate here.<\/p>\n His surface-level production is a mirage, and the O’s need to account for the eventual fall back down to earth.<\/p>\n It’s fine \u2014 patience is key with such a young, robustly gifted individual \u2014 but Baltimore cannot count on All-Star production from Holliday. Not yet, at least.<\/p>\n With Gunnar Henderson’s return on the horizon, it should be interesting to see how Holliday’s role changes. He wasn’t great at second base last season, a less natural position, and the O’s can probably get more consistency from some of their vets.<\/p>\n Investing in Holliday and stacking MLB reps is smart in the long run, but with Baltimore suffering in the standings right now (3-4), we may see the Orioles start to shy away from the uber-talented lefty.<\/p>\n The O’s are counting on Holliday as a cornerstone piece for the next decade; that doesn’t necessarily mean he is about to be a featured piece this season.<\/p>\n Baltimore fans need to afford him the necessary patience now, lest things get uncomfortable when the coming slump strikes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jackson Holliday is mashing, but the concerns persist. The Baltimore Orioles aren’t exactly rocking out of the gate, but Jackson Holliday looks awfully good. He’s batting .304… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":46946,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n