Holliday looking to build off positives from 2026 during '27 season

Three seasons and 307 games into his MLB career, Jackson Holliday is still younger than most big league players. The Orioles second baseman will turn 23 on Dec. 4.

Holliday is still learning. But there’s one major thing he’s figured out since arriving in the Majors in April 2024.

“Obviously, it’s a pretty difficult game,” Holliday said. “I don’t think anyone needs me to tell them that.”

It would have been impossible for Holliday to live up to the sky-high expectations placed upon him before he even stepped onto a field for the first time as a Major Leaguer.

Holliday’s dad, Matt, was a seven-time All-Star outfielder who had a successful 15-year MLB career, so Jackson was born into this. Jackson garnered a lot of attention during his time at Stillwater (Okla.) High School, then was taken by Baltimore with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 Draft.

At the time of Holliday’s big league debut on April 10, 2024, at Fenway Park in Boston, he was the No. 1 overall prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline. The pressure to perform was on.

Holliday will be the first to admit he hasn’t performed up to his potential. He’s shown flashes of why he’s long been considered a future star, but he hasn’t put together a complete season yet.

Holliday’s stats by season
2024: .189 AVG with 4 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 23 RBIs, 4 SB, .566 OPS in 60 games
2025: .242 AVG with 21 2B, 3 3B, 17 HR, 55 RBIs, 17 SB, .689 OPS in 149 games
2026: .229 AVG with 12 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 30 RBIs, 8 SB, .640 OPS in 98 games

This year, Holliday’s season was bookended by surgeries. He underwent right hamate surgery on Feb. 12, delaying his 2026 debut until May 19. Then, for much of September, Holliday dealt with some left wrist inflammation, which eventually led to him undergoing a procedure to repair a partial TFCC (triangular fibrocartilage complex) tear on Sept. 29. (That surgery shouldn’t prevent Holliday from being ready in time for ‘27.)

“I thought this year was good in some ways. I was kind of getting a little more comfortable vs. lefties, and one month was really awesome and I was trying to build off that,” Holliday said. “It’s a tough game. Trying to just have a little bit of grace for myself as far as what kind of I tried to play through and grind through.”

There were some positives, as Holliday alluded to.

For one, Holliday became more platoon-neutral. His average and OPS vs. left-handed pitchers (.235, .632) were similar to those numbers against righties (.226, .643).

Holliday’s July was also one of his best months as a big leaguer. He hit .368 (21-for-57) with three doubles, six RBIs, 16 walks and a .921 OPS in 74 plate appearances across 23 games.

Since moving from shortstop to second base in Spring Training in 2024, Holliday has experienced some growing pains. But there’s been enough improvement that the Orioles continue to feel confident in the youngster as a long-term fit at the position.

The O’s also still believe Holliday isn’t anywhere close to the player he’s going to become.

“Enormous talent, great head on his shoulders,” president of baseball operations Mike Elias said. “You look at where he is and the age, and then the other top [Draft] picks around him that year, he's way ahead of the curve, and we continue to believe in him and build around him. ... I think he's so early in his career that we'll see, but we absolutely believe in his ability at second base and him as a second baseman will be a big part of our planning this winter.”

During the offseason, Holliday hopes to recover quickly and then get back to work. Another beneficial part of his ‘26 campaign was getting to closely watch new teammate Pete Alonso -- one of the top players in baseball -- which seemed to rub off a bit on Holliday.

“It’s been awesome to be able to learn from Pete and watch him do his thing,” Holliday said. “I’m super glad to have a guy like that in our clubhouse and leading the charge on the offense, and just to be able to sit and watch the year that he’s had, I think, is really cool for me and a lot of the guys in here.

“He lives pretty close to me, so being able to hopefully pick his brain quite a bit this offseason and kind of watch things that he does that separates him from everyone else, I’m excited for that. Just trying to build off of this kind of crazy year.”