Jackson Holliday gets third-base reps in latest Triple-A rehab stint

Jackson Holliday’s path back to Baltimore took a sharper turn at third base, where the Orioles gave the 22-year-old a look that could do more than just add versatility. It could clear a cleaner lane for his bat.

Holliday worked at the hot corner early in his latest rehab stint with Triple-A Norfolk after restarting his recovery at Double-A Chesapeake on Thursday, May 7. He had been shut down after right wrist soreness interrupted his previous Triple-A assignment, a setback that followed surgery on Feb. 12 to remove the fractured hook of the hamate bone in his right hand. Follow-up testing showed only minor inflammation, and Baltimore kept the process moving day by day.

The move matters because the Orioles have not settled third base. Coby Mayo has struggled there and Jordan Westburg has been unavailable, so getting Holliday reps at a new infield spot gives Baltimore another internal option if his bat is ready before his glove is fully fixed in one place. Craig Albernaz said Holliday was open to the change after team discussions, and his next start for the Baysox was set to come at third base. For a player whose calling card has always been the hit tool, that kind of flexibility is not a footnote. It is a roster solution.

It was also a notable milestone. Those third-base reps were only the third professional appearances of Holliday’s career at the position, with the previous two coming in 2023, once with High-A Aberdeen on June 25 and once with Chesapeake on Aug. 16. The Orioles are not asking him to become Manny Machado overnight. They are testing whether the bat that made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft can travel through a different defensive path.

Holliday made his Double-A debut at age 19 on July 14, 2023, reached the majors on April 10, 2024, and had not played for Norfolk since July 28, 2024 before this rehab run. In 11 rehab games for the Tides earlier this season, he hit .167 with two doubles, three RBIs and three walks. Baltimore said the latest assignment could last up to 20 days, and with the Orioles still waiting on his 2026 debut, the third-base trial looked less like a curiosity than a real attempt to widen his call-up case.