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Orioles Continue Free Fall Despite Emergence of Young Star

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Troy Brock | Last updated May 12, 2025 3:47 PM ET

It is hard to be happy about much surrounding the Baltimore Orioles right now. They entered the year as a team expected to make the playoffs easily, and have been the exact opposite of that to this point, struggling in nearly every facet of the game.

They enter the week with a 15-24 record, virtually at the end of the first quarter of the season. The Orioles' record has them in last place in the American League East, and only three teams have started worse this year.

The only enjoyable aspect of the Baltimore Orioles right now is seeing Jackson Holliday develop into a good player.

That is it. Everything else is stale.
— am Brice (@kambrice1tv) May 8, 2025

The rough start to the year has seen the Orioles continue to free fall in the weekly power rankings. In the latest iteration, Will Leitch of MLB.com drops the club from 22nd to 24th, though he does list one bright side.

"It has been extremely dark in Baltimore of late," writes Leitch, "so let’s try to focus on something positive, if possible: Jackson Holliday is starting to slowly come along. Over his past 15 games coming into Sunday, when he took an 0-fer, he slashed .356/.442/.511 with two homers. The Orioles will take all the positives they can get right now."

The emergence of Holliday may be too little, too late, but it is a good sign for the future. He has raised his batting line on the year to .264/.336/.409 with four home runs, 12 RBI and a 117 OPS+ across 122 plate appearances in 34 games. It has led many to begin calling for the second baseman to be in the lineup every day.

I hate to keep beating this drum but I really feel like Jackson Holliday should be an everyday player. #Birdland https://t.co/ySWgxCf1Zm pic.twitter.com/Yte9861Ivx
— Rick Arnold (@onenastycamaro) May 3, 2025

While it may appear to be a lost season for the Orioles, Holliday finding his groove at the plate is a major boon for the future. If only the rest of the team could follow suit.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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