Of course, none of us are technicians about hitting...but what can the Orioles do about Holliday?

[interloper]

4 minutes ago, oriole said:

I mean, I have watched a good amount of his at bats. Weak contact or a strike out. His one hit was not hit hard, his walk came right after Paddack was noticeably rattled by the Westburg home run and his fly out to deep center-right was the first time I’ve seen him hit a major league pitch with any authority whatsoever. 

Lol, okay. This proves you have not been paying attention because it's factually incorrect. 

[Bemorewins]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Pretty sure Roy was just a glint in his father’s eye when the Say Hey kid came up.  

I recall him (maybe incorrectly?) saying that he watched Mays for most of his career.

[Roy Firestone]

2 hours ago, Bemorewins said:

Jackson Holliday is a longterm cornerstone piece for this franchise. Connor Norby would be nothing more than a temporary place holder (no disrespect to him but he is NOWHERE NEAR the talent that Holliday is).

It is in the Orioles best interest to be patient (unlike you) and for Holliday to figure it out and get it going. Not replace him with a another player who is not in his tier/caliber as a ball player and simply say "next man up".

Roy, I am surprised that a guy who has been around as long as you is so impatient with a 20 yr old kid like Holliday.

Didn't watch Babe Ruth? LOL No, seriously you were around to watch some of the greatest of all-time! You saw "The Say Hey Kid" struggle out of the gate. Ripken Jr. struggled out of the gate. Bonds struggled when he first came to the show. And you were there to watch them all.

What makes this kid any different? 

I guarantee when you first started at as a sports journalist, you were not as great day 1, then when you came into your own and had that great show on ESPN were you interviewed some of the top athletes in the sport. With all your knowledge, wisdom, experience and expertise, you should KNOW that it takes time.

You are completely misreading my post. I said he'll figure it out but more than half of all his at bats are strikeouts...and thats concerning..I have no doubt it will get better...but RIGHT NOW, he's hard to watch at the plate.

[doccat]

I'm usually one to panic, but I'm not panicking.  He'll hit.  He's too good.  George Brett started his career 1 for 54....

 

He could definitely use a few more pounds on him down the road...  He looks so little compared to the other guys around him...  And he's baby-faced too- looks like a little kid out there...  

[Roy Firestone]

5 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

I recall him (maybe incorrectly?) saying that he watched Mays for most of his career.

I did.I saw him mostly on television but watched a good 15 years of his career...and saw him play in person too.

[Warehouse]

13 minutes ago, oriole said:

His one hit was not hit hard, his walk came right after Paddack was noticeably rattled by the Westburg home run and his fly out to deep center-right was the first time I’ve seen him hit a major league pitch with any authority whatsoever. 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=b867a64e-9e20-4119-9b99-08f5b62b4cc0
 

His first hit had an exit velocity of 101 mph, which qualifies as a hard hit ball.

[Bemorewins]

9 minutes ago, oriole said:

I mean, I have watched a good amount of his at bats. Weak contact or a strike out. His one hit was not hit hard, his walk came right after Paddack was noticeably rattled by the Westburg home run and his fly out to deep center-right was the first time I’ve seen him hit a major league pitch with any authority whatsoever. 
 

I’ll say I’m with everyone in the thread that he should be out there every day for a while and let him work it out. But let’s not put lipstick on this pig, he is doing extraordinarily terrible right now. 

Huh??

On his one hit the EV was over 100mph. He hit a line drive to center field yesterday in the 5th and a line drive to left the day before.

Are you watching the games or going off of the box scores? If so, that could explain the discrepancy.

If not, I don't know how long that you have been on the OH, but trust me, this is not the site to make stuff up or not have your facts lined up. Because I know from first hand experience people/posters will fact check you and aren't afraid to let you know when you are not accurate. 

[Bemorewins]

Just now, Roy Firestone said:

I did.I saw him mostly on television but watched a good 15 years of his career...and saw him play in person too.

That's what I thought I remember you saying.

[oriolediehard]

11 hours ago, Say O! said:

This. I think the early book on Holliday is to keep feeding him changeups.  Jackson has taken several borderline ones that umps have called strikes and others he has waved over the top of them.  So I would tell him to sit on changeup and hopefully he can tattoo a couple and begin altering pitcher perceptions.

Umps have no mercy for young newcomers. I think he is pressing because of all the hype he got.  He needs to learn to relax.

[potota_bread]

12 hours ago, Roy Firestone said:

As long as they are winning, the Orioles have both the luxury and the commitment to Jackson Holliday. He hit one bell well Tuesday night... but let's face it...even for a 20 year old rookie he's been pretty awful at the plate. Of course, the talent is there and he has to be comfortable at the plate, but how long do the Orioles run him out there? He has now struck out 12 time in 22 plate appearances. If he were some other rookie he'd be sent down...and if he were older and had less potential, he might be released. Of course, I'm not suggesting that. Holliday will eventually come around. But right now he's atrocious and maybe something mechanical or something psychological is in the way. Anybody have any suggestions? Should he sit again? The Orioles didnt miss his bat lately, but he's also a little shaky in the field too, a bobbled double play ball cost the team a run on Tuesday. Jackson needs to break out, and soon, or the unthinkable might be in the works...he might have to be sent down to get his confidence back.

How long do they run him out there? You mean send him back? How would that help? The only solution here is to let him play through it and grow from it.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, oriolediehard said:

Umps have no mercy for young newcomers. I think he is pressing because of all the hype he got.  He needs to learn to relax.

Do you think umps are like, this kids a rookie I'll screw up the metrics I'm graded on to screw with him?

[Satyr3206]

I just watched a bunch of his at bats. His mechanics look fine. I think it's pitch recognition and the off speed pitches that are the 2 issues. Only repetition can solve those problems.

[Bemorewins]

5 minutes ago, Roy Firestone said:

You are completely misreading my post. I said he'll figure it out but more than half of all his at bats are strikeouts...and thats concerning..I have no doubt it will get better...but RIGHT NOW, he's hard to watch at the plate.

Agree with all of that. I guess I sort of expected him to struggle out of the gate given how just about all prospects do initially in today's game.

It appears that the gap between AAA and the Majors is greater than ever before. Elias even alluded to this.

One thing I have noticed in his PA's is that I suspect that he is used to "eliminating" certain pitches because Minor League pitches could not execute those pitches regularly (in particular a back door breaking ball to a LHH). But as he is finding out, Major League pitches can pin point spots with great precision. He will make the adjustment in terms of being aggressive/ready to hit early in the count (particularly at 0-0). 

[Bemorewins]

As long as we are winning regularly and scoring runs while having to carry him in the lineup, I don't see a problem.

It is best for the org that he learn at this level. I know that it may be "painful to watch" for some. But what he needs to learn, he cannot learn at AAA. The pitching there is simply not good/competitive enough to teach him the things that will make him an effective/very good/maybe even great Big Leaguer. Pitchers at AAA cannot execute the breaking pitches with command on a consistent basis to give him those kind of meaningful reps.

We have the luxury of "apprenticing" him right now because the rest of the lineup/roster/team is so good.  

[oriole]

14 minutes ago, interloper said:

Lol, okay. This proves you have not been paying attention because it's factually incorrect. 

I haven’t watched every single at bat, the ones I have seen have been bad.

I didn’t check the EV on his hit, I’ve been corrected. It was technically a hard hit ball. Looked it like it squeezed through a hole in the infield to me, but 101 is technically a hard hit ball so I concede.
 

I feel like reiterating, I think he’s going to be a very good player. Not sure why everyone here is so against being critical on someone who has hit worse than any active major league hitter in the same time frame. Isn’t it safe to just make the statement that Jackson Holliday has been bad at baseball? Sure he’ll be fine, but so far he hasn’t been. God forbid you say it out loud. I’m not even panicked about him as a player. Almost every rookie struggles in a similar fashion. They’re not all hyped to the degree that Holliday is though, so of course he will put under a different microscope.