Orioles legend gives verdict on Jackson Holliday's fit at second base

Former Baltimore Orioles player Brian Roberts opened up about Jackson Holliday's shift to second base with the Orioles. Roberts made his MLB debut with the Orioles in 2001, also had a stint with the New York Yankees, making his final major league appearance with them in July 2014.

Recently, Roberts joined Ryan Ripken on an episode of the Ryan Ripken Show, where he discussed various topics, including Jackson Holliday. Roberts started his MLB career as a shortstop but transitioned to second base, just like Holliday.

Discussing Jackson, he said (starts at 6:31):

“I've had a lot of opportunities to talk to Jackson spent a lot of time with him in spring training this year. I've known him since he was three so always had a great relationship with him.”

“I think what he's really learning and doing a great job of right now. His time clock, his internal time clock it's very different at shortstop than it is at second base… I think he's just getting more and more relaxed, you can see just the comfort level also.”

Further comparing Jackson Holliday with himself, he added:

“What he's so much better at than I wasn’t is being able to to field and turn to his throwing side and make that throw. I hated that play but he's learning his limits on where he wants to go with the backhand feed and where he's just naturally comfortable pivoting and turning."

In Saturday's game, Jackson Holliday went 1-for-2, scoring one run and drawing one walk in the Baltimore Orioles' 6-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Brian Roberts discusses high expectations for young players like Jackson Holliday

Jackson Holliday is in his second year with the Orioles after a mixed rookie season last year. Brian Roberts also commented on the high expectations set for young players such as Jackson, who is only 21 years old. Discussing it, he said:

“Look the kid is still what 20 years old or whatever. when I was that age I was trying to somehow figure out how to hit in the SEC you know much less at the major league level. I think that's what people kind of don't understand sometimes is like they expect these guys to come up and produce a 900 OPS in the big leagues at 21 years old or 20 years old.”

“That just doesn't happen very often there's a few that do it here and there but I mean those are the half percent of the 1% and Jackson's in that half percent of the 1% but sometimes that just doesn't happen right away.”

So far in the 2025 season, Jackson Holliday has recorded a .243 batting average, hitting 2 homers, 8 RBIs, and 7 walks in 22 games played.