BALTIMORE -- Orioles fans can breathe a sigh of relief -- Jackson Holliday is OK.
There was some concern surrounding the 22-year-old second baseman, who exited his rehab game with Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday night after experiencing discomfort in his right hand during his first plate appearance. But Holliday returned to Baltimore on Wednesday and underwent an MRI, CT scans and X-rays, all of which came back clean and showed only slight inflammation.
Now, Holliday -- who underwent surgery to remove the fractured hook of hamate bone in his right hand/wrist on Feb. 12 and has been on the 10-day injured list all season -- is again being shut down for a few days before resuming a rehab assignment. But the positive is that he has no structural damage and is dealing with a typical type of discomfort that can occur for hitters after getting a hamate procedure done.
"It felt like I broke my hand again. Obviously, kind of concerning taking a swing and having that kind of pain," Holliday said in the O's clubhouse prior to Friday's series opener vs. the Red Sox at Camden Yards. "I guess whenever a tendon rolls over a nerve, it can kind of cause that. It kind of freaked me out, just dealing with everything. It didn’t feel great, so I’m glad everything is OK."
Holliday fractured his right hamate bone in early February after reporting to the Orioles' Spring Training complex in Sarasota, Fla., early to get work in. The initial hope was that he'd be in Baltimore's lineup by mid-April.
That turned out not to be the case, though. Holliday played 11 rehab games for Triple-A Norfolk from March 27-April 12 before getting pulled off the assignment early due to right wrist discomfort. He played two rehab games for High-A Frederick last Saturday and Sunday before returning to Norfolk on Tuesday, when the hand discomfort occurred on a swing.
"I think we’re disappointed in that we were probably expecting to have him back around now," president of baseball operations Mike Elias said. "It’s just something that his hand is adjusting to the lack of the bone and had some soft-tissue pain. So unfortunately, this is adding time. But it’s all within the possible normal spectrum of outcomes with a hamate injury. Doesn’t change the prognosis, just changes the time that he’s out.
"We’ve seen these come really quick for some players, and others take a long time to feel like themselves. And so, we want to let him get through this on an individual basis and we’ll be giving him as much time as he needs."
It's been frustrating for Holliday, who never went on the big league IL during his first two seasons. He even stayed healthy in 2025, when Baltimore used the injured list 39 times for 29 players amid a 75-87 campaign.
Holliday is among 11 O's players currently on the IL and 14 who have spent time on the injured list overall in 2026. The club got a pair of reinforcements on Friday, when outfielder Tyler O'Neill (concussion) and right-hander Andrew Kittredge (right shoulder inflammation) were both reinstated.
It could take some time before Holliday is ready to join them, which has been a challenging thought for the 2022 No. 1 overall Draft pick and the former top prospect in baseball.
"I’d love to be back here already, just kind of how things have gone. But I know when I come back up here, I want to be able to feel great," Holliday said. "I know I’m going to deal with some things, and I think it’s just part of it. But I want to be able to be in a position where I’m confident going up to the plate, take a swing without my hand feeling terrible. That’s kind of where I want to be, just going out there and having confidence and everything with my swing, as opposed to maybe feeling it a little bit, timid, ‘How is this going to feel when I take this swing?’
"So, that’s kind of where I’m at. But I would love to be up here very soon."