Dominant resurgence aside, Jackson Holliday can't outrun ghosts from first MLB stint

Jackson Holliday hit the fifth home run of his very brief second stint in the majors with the Orioles. Four of those five home runs have traveled over 400 feet, which speaks to the sheer force the former No. 1 prospect in MLB is hitting the ball right now.

“I’m not trying to hit homers. I’m just trying to hit the ball hard, on the barrel,” Holliday said. “When that happens, good things, obviously, seem to be good outcomes. Just was trying to hit the ball hard, and wherever it goes, it just happens to be going over the fence at a pretty high rate right now.”

Holliday is right. The ball is finding the barrel thanks to some small tweaks the O's rookie made to his swing when he was sent back to Norfolk following a 2-for-34 stint in Baltimore. That, plus 'Golden Tee Golf', has made the month of August far different than April.

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Jackson Holliday's horrific start to MLB career is still setting records

With his fifth blast on Saturday, Holliday became the youngest player with four-plus home runs in a six-game span since Vladimir Guerrero Jr. That's pretty good company for the Baltimore infielder trying to make a name for himself in big-league ball. However, that wasn't the only record Holliday set on Saturday.

As of Friday, Holliday had tied Austin Jackson for the longest strikeout streak to start an MLB career -- 19 games. On Saturday, he broke that mark, though the umpires clearly have not helped him out.

Holliday is a young player -- still just 20 years of age -- so the Orioles should expect the good with the bad. In this modern age of hitting, strikeouts are no longer viewed with the same lens they once were, say when Jackson's father played in the 1990's. For some, there are three outcomes in every at-bat -- a strikeout, walk or home run.

Holliday can offer more than that, and so far in his second MLB stint is. While about half of his hits since his call-up are home runs, the other five have been sprayed to multiple fields, as should be the case for a slugger with that sort of flexibility and prowess.