Jackson Holliday talks about his return to the majors

Orioles infielder Jackson Holliday is back with the team today and about to play in a big league game for the first time since April 23. He said he feels more prepared this time around and his arm is fully ready after a bout with right elbow inflammation.

The 20-year-old Holliday went 2-for-34 with 18 strikeouts in 10 games in his first time in the bigs.

“Just going to enjoy it,” Holliday said this morning in the Baltimore clubhouse which gets an influx of new talent after the trade deadline. “Enjoy being here and being present. Feel like last time it was all a blur. Just glad to be up here and enjoy every moment with these guys and have fun.

“It was obviously sad to go back down. But got to go down there and make some adjustments and improve a little bit and set myself up for the second time around. Glad to be here.”

Holliday indicated the adjustments he made were minor. He told me he has not eliminated his high leg kick, which some questioned whether that would impact his ability to hit premium velocity. That part didn’t change.

“On offense trying to cut down swing and miss, especially on fastballs. It’s important to hit strikes and that is the main goal. Flatten out the swing a little bit and getting back to what I was doing last year. Just a little bit different of a setup, little bit more (involvement with) legs. Trying to make adjustments to get back up here, so happy with it,” he said.

That first time here just reinforced for him how good major league players are.

“Obviously, this is the best league in the world and I definitely got shown that. Looking forward to today. I am definitely more prepared than I was last time," he said.

Holliday has hit .271/.431/.477/.908 with 75 walks and 77 strikeouts in 73 Triple-A games. In July in 19 games he hit .277 with a .948 OPS with Norfolk.

“Yeah, I’ve been playing pretty well. I’ve been happy with the past few weeks and how I’ve been swinging it. And getting back from a little bit of an injury and being able to play defense and be out there for nine innings, I felt I put myself in a good position."

He is ready to show he belongs this time and that he can stay in the majors.

“That was my goal last time and it’s definitely my goal this time. To come up here and help this team win and hopefully make a long playoff run," he stated.

He feels his arm is fine now.

"It feels good. Got on an anti-inflammatory and some rehab and kind of knocked that thing out of here. So I feel good. Excited to be able to play nine innings the other day. We kept getting rained out and doubleheaders for the past week. I feel good."

Now it's the playoff push for the Orioles and Holliday joins the ride.

"Yeah, I mean, this is what it's all about right?" Holliday said. "Playing in the playoffs and playing for a winning team and very happy to join at this time."