Orioles infielder set to make MLB debut after Gregory Soto trade

The Orioles are going to select infielder Jeremiah Jackson to their roster. Manager Tony Mansolino informed reporters, including Steve Melewski, that he will take the roster spot vacated by left-hander Gregory Soto. Soto was traded to the Mets earlier on Friday.

Jackson, 25, gets called up to the majors for the first time and will be making his debut as soon as he gets into a game. He signed a minor league deal with the club in the offseason and has been putting up huge numbers in the minors this year. Split between Double-A and Triple-A, he has 351 plate appearances with 15 home runs. He’s only drawing walks at a 4% clip but is also only striking out 14.2% of the time. He has a combined line of .311/.340/.538 line and a 135 wRC+.

Prior to joining the Orioles, Jackson spent time in the systems of the Angels and Mets. The Halos flipped him to the latter club in the 2023 deadline deal , which sent right-hander Dominic Leone to Los Angeles.

The lack of strikeouts this year is notable, as that was a key problem for Jackson in previous seasons. He had a 33% strikeout rate in 2021, but he has dropped that down over the years. Defensively, he’s played the three infield spots to the left of first base and all three outfield spots as well. He has some speed on the bases, regularly putting up double-digit stolen bases totals, including ten already this year.

It’s possible that this will be a short big league stint for Jackson. Putting him in for Soto gives the club 14 position players and just 12 pitchers. That’s less than ideal, and they will likely look to even that back to 13 and 13 soon. On the other hand, it’s possible the Baltimore roster is set for further moves in the coming days. Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Urías, Ramón Laureano, Cedric Mullins, Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano, Trevor Rogers, Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge are all candidates to be moved before the deadline.

It’s anyone’s guess how the roster will look in the wake of all those theoretical trades. Since Jackson can play multiple positions, perhaps he’ll find a way to still have a role once the dust settles next week.