Jackson Holliday can’t seem to get out of his own way this season. The Baltimore Orioles’ former top prospect — once the consensus No. 1 guy in all of baseball — has been fighting an uphill battle since February. He broke a hamate bone just a handful of live at-bats into spring training, and what was supposed to be a quick recovery stretched into months. He didn’t make his MLB debut until May.
Since then, it’s been a grind. Through 29 games, he’s hitting .200. That’s not what anyone expected from the first overall pick in the 2022 draft. And now there’s another thing to worry about: groin tightness that forced him out of the June 20 game against the Dodgers in the eighth inning. He wasn’t in the lineup the next day either.
The good news? The Orioles don’t think it’s serious. Holliday told reporters — including Jacob Calvin Meyer of MLB.com — that he could’ve pinch-hit in the next game if they’d needed him. That’s something, at least. But when a 21-year-old with his pedigree keeps getting derailed by weird little injuries, you start to wonder if the bad luck is compounding into something bigger.
The Orioles’ youth movement is stalling
Baltimore built its whole identity around a loaded farm system. For years, they were the envy of the league — a pipeline of elite young talent that was supposed to fuel sustained contention. But the reality of the 2025 season has been harsh. Adley Rutschman hasn’t looked like the superstar catcher everyone projected. Gunnar Henderson has been good but not great. Coby Mayo, Samuel Basallo, and Colton Cowser have all shown flashes without consistency. And Jordan Westburg is out for the season.
That’s a lot of guys underperforming at the same time. It’s not just Holliday. But he’s the marquee name, the one whose struggles get the most attention. And for a team that already lost Westburg and has dealt with a rash of injuries in recent years, every setback matters more.
Holliday is still just 21. He has time. But in the hyper-competitive AL East, the Orioles don’t have forever to wait for all their pieces to click. They need him on the field, and they need him producing. Groin tightness probably won’t derail his season. But if he can’t get a full month of healthy at-bats under his belt, the questions will only get louder.
He could be back in the lineup as early as this weekend. That’s the optimistic read. For now, everyone in Baltimore is just hoping this isn’t another domino in a season that keeps falling the wrong way.
Leave a Comment