Mansolino on Holliday: "I see a guy that’s going to be a Gold Glove contender in the years to come"

Jordan Westburg’s return from the injured list yesterday pushed Jackson Holliday to the bench. Westburg wasn’t playing third base due to Ramón Urías’ simultaneous return. The setup was cemented.

The times are changing, and back to the norm.

Holliday won’t be buried but his opportunities to start could be impacted, and especially against left-handed opposing pitchers. Urías was the club’s hottest hitter at the time that his right ankle rolled on Aug. 31 in Colorado while he covered the bag on a stolen base. Sending him back to his previous utility role might have to wait until 2025 if he’s back with the club as expected.

Asked yesterday whether he’d stay with Westburg at second and Urías at third, with maybe the occasional starts for Holliday, manager Brandon Hyde said it depends how the Orioles are hitting.

“Ramón was swinging the bat great until he got hurt, swung the bat great today, and Westy will be in there,” he said. “So it’ll be day-to-day.”

Holliday is getting more comfortable at second, which doesn’t prevent the occasional misplay. He’s still making the transition from shortstop but the improvement is evident.

Unfortunately in this business, the mistakes tend to garner most of the attention.

Holliday wasn’t charged with an error Saturday on Jake Rogers’ sharp ground ball toward the middle in the eighth inning that skipped under his glove on a backhand attempt to allow the tie-breaking run to score. It was the right call. That isn’t an error. But Holliday told third base coach/infield instructor Tony Mansolino that he should have made the play.

The kid is mature beyond his years.

“I know there’s been a couple plays here – the one in Boston and maybe the one yesterday that didn’t go the way that we would like – but I think if you look at the big picture on him, we have to be pleased with how he’s played second base,” Mansolino said. “I think anytime a guy comes into the major leagues at age 20 and is an American high school sign, and I think the difference between that and a Latin sign is, the Latin sign’s age 16 and they have four or five years in professional baseball before they hit age 20. As an American kid, you’re playing American high school baseball. It’s very different than getting signed at 16 as a kid in Latin America.

“An American high school sign that I think had – you’d have to fact-check me on this – but maybe like 60 or 70 career professional games at second base before he came in, man, that’s a tall task to ask this guy to come in and play second base in August, in September, in the big leagues, in the pennant race. When you factor all of that in, I think we have to be thrilled with how he’s played.”

Baseball-Reference.com assigns Holliday a 0.1 dWAR. FanGraphs rates him at minus-2 in defensive runs saved, 0.1 in ultimate zone rating and minus-0.1 in UZR/150.

“This kid’s really played his butt off here at second base,” Mansolino said. “He’s probably played, my guess metrically, a slight negative second base metrically, which is pretty flat for me. Made a couple errors, made a couple mistakes. Other than that he’s been pretty clean. Personally I’m thrilled. I see a guy that’s going to be a Gold Glove contender in the years to come, and we’re really happy with where he’s at the moment.”

Holliday had a convenient excuse on Saturday’s ball, which he mentioned to Mansolino after reaching third base in the ninth but didn’t use as a crutch.

“He was real upset with the fact that he didn’t make the play, but he got blocked out by the umpire (Dan Iassogna) on the play,” Mansolino said. “So he said he lost the ball in between him and the umpire. He said even though that happened, he still felt like he should have made the play because that’s the type of kid he is. But it’s a real thing.

“As a minor league player you don’t always have an umpire sitting right in that spot, so it’s another part of learning for him here in the big leagues. But it’s a tough play nonetheless. The ball’s hit hard, it’s hit to his backhand side, it’s not the cleanest of hops. He’s gonna make that play in the future and it’s part of the learning experience right now. He’ll tell you the same thing. But by no means is that a routine play.”

Mansolino is encouraged by the progress that Holliday’s made with his fielding mechanics. He cites an example from Saturday’s game when Henderson was able to record an out after covering the bag.

“The way we ask (Holliday) to start double plays and turn double plays, the angles that he’s taking out there at second base, you’re starting to see him run onto the grass to catch balls at second base, which as a shortstop you try not to run on the grass because you’re so far from the base. You’re starting to see him take better angles,” Mansolino said.

“The feed that he had (Saturday), it was a possible bunt situation, they’re kind of going back and forth, pitch to pitch. He’s having to cheat a little bit toward the bag right there in that situation. The guy swings and he hits a soft tapper, the runner’s running in front of him. He catches it. His angle is that of having interference with the runner right there, and he puts a feed right on Gunnar’s chest. It’s a heck of a play for a 20-year-old in the big leagues. You’re starting to see more stuff like that from the kid.

“I’m bullish on him. I think he’s gonna be a heck of a defender at second. I really do. And I think we’re starting to see that quite a bit.”

There isn’t much choice with Henderson blocking Holliday at short. He must conquer the position and maintain the trust bestowed upon him.

The 2025 infield could be set with Henderson, Westburg, Holliday and Ryan Mountcastle, assuming that the first baseman returns. Urías was in the midst of the best offensive stretch of his career before the ankle injury but could have trouble finding consistent starts.

Jorge Mateo is arbitration-eligible again after making $2.7 million this season. He underwent left elbow ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction in August with an internal brace and flexor repair. Hyde has talked about the possibility of Mateo being ready for Opening Day, but with which team?

Westburg’s status isn’t vague. He’s an everyday player and sorely missed when on the injured list.

“I want to be a ballplayer, so as soon as they cleared me to kind of get back to being one, I wanted to push myself as hard as I could,” he said. “That’s kind of who I am, that’s who I pride myself on being, a hard worker. I was optimistic that I could get back and I knew that if I did get back, I wanted to be as ready as possible, so that’s all that was on my mind.

“I do think it’s helped. My legs feel good. I feel fresh. I know we have a lot of guys who played a lot this year. Hopefully, I can provide a little bit of a kick-start in the lineup for us and play with some energy.”

Westburg didn’t burden himself with self-imposed projections on when he’d return and whether he’d perform at his previous level.

“I always try to not focus on looking ahead,” he said. “I was staying optimistic that I could get back. I was trusting in something greater than myself to get back. I think when I started swinging and I didn’t have any setbacks, that’s when I was kind of like, ‘OK, it might be a little uncomfortable, but I can get through that.’ I don’t want that to be a crutch or an excuse, but I was able to push through that.

“I’m here now. I guess I’m just going to play as hard as I can every single day, whether my name’s in the lineup or not, and hopefully help this team.”

His name is going to be in the lineup.