Baltimore Orioles infielder Jackson Holliday is starting to remind people why he was the first overall selection in the 2022 MLB Draft. The rising star has shown steady improvement in an Orioles uniform despite being thrown into the deep end of the big leagues far sooner than he should have been.
Holliday’s rookie experience last season has been documented to excess. We're all aware that the phenom struggled mightily out of the gate and ended up with an ugly .189/ .255/ .311/ .565 slash line in 60 games. It’s funny that no one seems to be discussing that these days, though, as Holliday has been raking. And he’s still just 21 years old.
Jackson Holliday catches fire, providing Orioles fans with optimism for next season
Holliday has been on particularly torrid pace of late. He has a 1.052 OPS in his last 10 games for the Orioles: .316/ .447/ .605 with 12 hits, two home runs, four RBI, and six runs scored. He’s also been clutch, breaking up a no-hitter from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto at the last possible moment on Saturday night, causing mayhem at Camden Yards.
NO-HITTER NO MORE
— MLB (@MLB) September 7, 2025
Jackson Holliday homers with two outs in the 9th to end Yoshinobu Yamamoto's no-hitter 🤯 pic.twitter.com/P0UPJYYYjV
Holliday is now hitting .248/ .316/ .394/ .710 in 2025 with 17 home runs, 53 RBI, and 15 stolen bases. Earlier in September, he became just the sixth Oriole in franchise history to hit 20 doubles before his age-22 season, joining names like Cal Ripken Jr. and Manny Machado.
Holliday is on pace to finish with very impressive numbers for someone of his age, even for a top-of-the-line prospect. Holliday has emerged victorious from the pressure-cooker that was his overhyped rookie experience, and his success in 2025 is the latest example that MLB players — even most of the great ones — need a year or two to get their sea legs at the big league level (and there’s nothing wrong with that!).
Holliday now seems like he is delivering on his potential and meeting the unfair expectations placed in front of him, and fans and analysts will no doubt be waiting for Holliday to exceed those same expectations in 2026. Based on how Holliday has handled the spotlight thus far in his nascent career, there’s no telling what kind of production he might be capable of moving forward.
With Gunnar Henderson manning shortstop and Holliday holding down second base, the middle of Baltimore’s infield is looking electric for the foreseeable future. Better days are on the way for Orioles fans, and Holliday promises to be in the middle of it all.