Orioles’ Holliday gives himself a ‘C’ after 1st full season in majors

Whenever Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino was asked about Jackson Holliday, he would almost always remind the questioner that his second baseman was only 21.

At the start of the season, Holliday was the second-youngest player in the majors behind only Milwaukee outfielder Jackson Churio. By the end of the season, Holliday wasn’t even the youngest player on the Orioles. Samuel Basallo, who turned 21 in August, was, but Holliday was still the ninth youngest in September.

The expectations for Holliday, who had a nightmarish start to his major league career at age 20 in 2024, were still high this year, and he didn’t do badly.

He played in 149 games, trailing only Gunnar Henderson’s 154. Holliday and Henderson were the only Orioles who played more than 94 games, due to trades and injuries.

After struggling through 60 games in his 2024 rookie season and hitting only .189 with a .565 OPS, Holliday was ready for bigger and better things his year.

Holliday was strongest in May (. 287, .819 OPS, five homers, 16 RBIs) and July (.270, .722 OPS, four homers 10 RBIs) and weakest in August (.184, .600 OPS, a home run and eight RBIs) and September (.222, .644 OPS, two homers, four RBIs).

Overall, he hit .242 with a .690 OPS. His 17 home runs tied with Henderson and Jordan Westburg for the team lead, and his 55 RBIs trailed only Henderson.

When asked to grade his season, Holliday thought for a moment.

“I don’t know, I’d probably give myself a C,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot and obviously had some pretty good moments in the season and struggled at the same time.

“But I’m excited to improve next year and learn how to stay consistent, and that’s something that I’ll be thinking about a lot in the offseason, is how I can perform the entire year opposed to a month here and there. I’m excited for the stuff that I learned, it’s something we’ve talked about. But, yeah, not bad and not great.”

Holliday worked with longtime Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts, a family friend and occasional team broadcaster in spring training on lateral defensive movement around second base.

“Oh yeah, still an area of focus, especially the backhand,” Holliday said. I don’t remember who I was telling, but I was talking to B-Rob and that was something that gave him a hard time his first year in the big leagues playing second, and that gave me some good encouragement, because it is different from playing shortstop.

“But it’s been good to learn, play a whole year over there, play a whole year with Gunn, getting comfortable and just really building for next year.”

Holliday’s defensive metrics at second base aren’t strong. He has a -.6 defensive WAR (Wins Above Replacement), he led second basemen with games played, 139 and assists, 331 while committing 10 errors. (He started six games at shortstop and 10 at designated hitter.)

Unlike most of his teammates, Holliday didn’t miss substantial time because of injuries and avoided the injured list. In the last week of the season, Holliday missed two games because of right knee soreness but did play the final series at Yankee Stadium.

“It’s manageable,” he said. “I kind of felt like a wuss after getting an MRI and it was only inflammation. But it’s something that’s been bothering me for a while and it kind of just flared up. Stuff you’ve got to play through if you want to play in October, but, yeah, feel fine.”

He’s looking forward to a stronger, more consistent season in 2026 for himself and his teammates.“Yeah, I’m pretty confident,” he said. “I think everyone in this clubhouse isn’t exactly having the year that they would want or think that they can have. So for us to kind of have a down year and still put up a pretty decent season, I’m pretty confident in this team.”

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