MLB 2025 Opening Day: 100 players to watch out for ahead of new season | Jackson Holliday, No. 98
Once the top prospect in all of baseball, Jackson Holliday's first couple of stints in the big leagues didn't go to plan. However, he's still only going into his age-21 season, so there's still time to get going.
Until Opening Day, Sportskeeda is going to count down with featured players, highlighting what they've done in the past as well as offering some expectations for how they'll do in 2025. Holliday comes in as the third, or 98th, player on the list.
During Spring Training, Holliday nearly made the Opening Day roster for the Baltimore Orioles. Tasked with performing better against left-handed pitching, he went back to the minors and improved.
Eventually, he made his debut and lasted 10 games before being sent back down after some truly disappointing play. He came back up later and rebounded, but his overall numbers were still pretty bad.
Holliday hit .189 and had a 63 wRC+ in 60 games played. He was worth exactly zero fWAR. He added five home runs and four stolen bases throughout his first stint in the big leagues.
He also struggled in the field, posting -3 DRS at second base and in limited action at shortstop in just 474.2 innings. His baserunning was slightly positive with 0.8 BsR.
Predicting Jackson Holliday's second season at the MLB level
Jackson Holliday's first two stints in Major League Baseball did not go well at all. He looked overmatched in his first stint, and when he returned, he looked marginally better.
Holliday was the top prospect in baseball at just 20 and made his debut at that age, which indicates that there's talent. In 2025, he will need to tap into that since the Orioles aren't being overly aggressive in free agency. They're going to lean on the young players.
FanGraphs projects that he will have a 2.2 fWAR and hit .234 in his second year. The website projects a 108 wRC+ and 11 home runs. It also projects 109 games played, so while that's not exactly a full-time player, the publication expects him to be on the field plenty.
Our prediction: Holliday rebounds and hits .246 with 14 home runs, 44 RBI, 13 stolen bases, a 111 wRC+ and 2.9 fWAR in 123 games played.