"Good news" from Jackson Holliday's MRI is only leading to more questions

Jackson Holliday has been on a long, winding path back from his hamate injury. He missed all of spring training, started the year in Triple-A on a rehab assignment, then, while on that rehab assignment, he injured his other hand and had to go down to High-A to rehab that injury before being called back up to Triple-A to finish his original rehab assignment. That's a rough road to start the season, and when Holliday left his first game back in Triple-A with an apparent hand injury, it looked really bad.

Holliday exited the game immediately after showing obvious signs of pain on a foul tip, and the update that was provided shortly after was that Holliday was coming to Baltimore to get an MRI. Players who are totally fine don't usually get MRIs, so that announcement was made, and every Orioles fan started imagining worst-case scenarios.

Despite all the worrying, this was an example of the rare MRI where everything turned out to be ok. Holliday and POBO Mike Elias addressed the media on Friday and shared that the MRI results showed no structural damage. This came as a relief to Orioles fans but especially to Holliday, who told the media that after that swing, he thought he had broken his hand again.

There are still concerns and questions around Jackson Holliday's rehab

The first concern is how far behind the other players who suffered similar injuries. Corbin Carroll and Francisco Lindor both recovered in time to play on opening day, and although Lindor is not out with another injury, it seemed like both Carroll and Lindor have had their power stroke early in the season. On the other hand, it looks like it's going to take Holliday until mid-May to get back to the majors. That's double the recovery time of the other guys.

It is true that not everyone's body is the same, and some guys take longer to heal, but doubling the recovery time is extreme, especially when the other guys are playing big league ball, and Holliday is dealing with pain that the doctors are telling him is not normal.

That ties into the second concern, which is the level of this "not normal" pain. Holliday very casually said, "That's what happens when a tendon rolls over a nerve," as if that wasn't a big deal, but it is. Why are his tendons rolling over nerves and causing such intense pain that he has to leave the game? That shouldn't be happening.

It's almost more concerning that he's having this pain, and the doctors are giving him the thumbs up. If there was some structural matter, he could just get another surgery and get it fixed. What is the fix for this pain? Just hoping it will stop happening?

The last concern is the injury that got him sent to High-A, which was the result of him overcompensating with his other hand. This was supposed to be an important season for Holliday. He took a step forward last year, but the overall numbers ended in a disappointing place. Certainly, Holliday was hoping to make this his true breakout year, and now this injury has set him back quite a bit.

Injuries from overcompensating happen when a player is pushing themselves too hard in trying to find a way to be effective despite dealing with an injury. With Holliday dealing with such consistent pain, it would not be surprising if more overcompensation injuries crop up as he tries to adjust to the pain and play through it.

Hopefully, the Orioles can figure out why Holliday is dealing with this pain, and he can finish his recovery in time to have the breakout season he was hoping for. In the meantime, the Orioles are fortunate to have Jeremiah Jackson holding down the fort at second base.

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