With Gunnar Henderson on the injured list to start the season for the Orioles, Jackson Holliday appears poised to handle the bulk of the work at shortstop until Henderson returns. At that point, Holliday will return to second base.
As a spring training guest coach each of the past two years, former Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy has seen firsthand what Holliday brings to the table. Hardy believes Holliday, a shortstop by trade, is fully capable of juggling two positions in the early going.
“First of all, I think Jackson’s a good enough athlete to do it and [shortstop is] the position he grew up playing,” Hardy said on Glenn Clark Radio March 26. “And second, I think that discussion goes on a lot in the front office and with the coaching staff. It’s not like they’re just doing it for no reason. I’m sure there’s a reason why. I as a player would always sit back and trust them. They know what they’re doing.”
Holliday started eight games apiece at short and second base in the Grapefruit League this spring. The Orioles could have opted to keep Holliday at second base to prepare him for the position he was likely to play for most of the 2025 season. Instead, it appears Holliday will play short with Jordan Westburg at second base and Ramón Urías at third base while Henderson (intercostal) is out. Jorge Mateo (left elbow) could factor in as well if he is deemed ready to go.
Hardy mentioned that his former manager Buck Showalter liked to keep Manny Machado at third base even when a need arose at short, but that doesn’t mean one way is absolutely correct.
“Whenever I would get hurt and Machado was at third base, Buck liked to leave Machado at third base because he was so good at third base and didn’t want to mix it all up,” Hardy said. “There are two sides to it, but I would say that I would trust the front office and the coaching staff and let them do their job and know that they’re doing it for a reason.”
Regardless, second base figures to be Holliday’s long-term home with the Orioles. Holliday started 52 games at second base and one at short for the Orioles a year ago. He flashed the physical tools necessary to play the keystone but also showed he needed some time to master the nuances of the position.
Hardy never played second base other than in the shift, but he explained that the transition to the position after growing up as a shortstop might not be as easy as it seems.
“The throw is much different — a shorter throw,” Hardy said. “Turning double plays from the other side of the bag is different. I think that’s maybe the biggest thing. Maybe feeds to shortstop would be way different because you never practice that — a feed from second base to short if you’re always at shortstop. There are a few things that definitely factor in, but I never played over there so I can’t fully speak to it. I’d just say that Jackson is an amazing athlete so he’s able to adapt and adjust to it pretty easily.”
Hardy was in Sarasota from Feb. 20-26 and was likely a valuable resource for the team’s infielders given that he was one of the steadiest, most fundamentally sound shortstops in the recent history of the game. He committed just 51 errors in 3,846 chances across seven seasons with the Orioles and always graded out well in any defensive metric.
Hardy has loved being back involved with the team during spring training the past two years, and he was drawn to one player in particular.
“As serious as I was between the lines — I was pretty locked in — I always did enjoy a guy that was pretty vocal and funny and just kind of kept it loose in the dugout or in the locker room. I would say Colton Cowser does a pretty good job of that,” Hardy said. “He’s a lot of fun to be around. He’s easy to talk to. I hope he has a ton more success this year and just keeps getting better.”
For more from Hardy, listen to the full interview here:
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