There are pros and cons for every situation. The trade-off for having a slew of young talent on your major league roster is that you will likely end up with two players who play the same position. With shortstop Gunnar Henderson returning from the IL on Friday, the Baltimore Orioles are about to face a dilemma that their rivals, the Boston Red Sox, know all too well.
Henderson’s return is exciting and will most certainly make the Orioles look even more dangerous on paper but adding him back to the lineup may not actually be all good news for Baltimore and specifically for former number one overall pick, Jackson Holliday.
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Baltimore Orioles position dilemma with Gunnar Henderson’s return
In the absence of Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday has been filling in at shortstop. Holliday has shown flashes of what the Orioles expected when they drafted him back in 2022, hitting .304 so far with a home run.
Henderson has proven that shortstop is his position and will undoubtedly reclaim that spot when he makes his season debut on Friday night. So where does that leave Holliday? The most logical fit is for him to slide over to second base, but that hasn’t worked so well in the past.
Some may argue that the position a person is playing has nothing to do with their offensive numbers. This is simply not true. If a player is uncomfortable, it affects every aspect of their game. History shows Jackson wasn’t too comfortable at second base back in 2024 when he first got called up.
In 60 games last season, Holliday hit .169 and struck out 69 times in just 208 plate appearances. During this stretch, second base was his primary position. Right now, Jackson is off to a decent start offensively, and it feels like having to make a position change could alter his trajectory.
Obviously, placing Henderson back at shortstop is the right decision and with the confidence Holliday expressed this offseason and his potential, it is likely he continues hitting at a high level. The potential of decreasing Holiday’s production is just not a perspective that a lot of people are taking into consideration.