At Camden Yards, most left-handed hitters lock in on the 318-foot short porch in right field, aiming to pepper balls onto Eutaw Street. This season, only 9% of left-handed homers at the ballpark have gone to left field.
Jackson Holliday is the exception.
The Orioles second baseman’s opposite-field approach is among the best in baseball for left-handed hitters. He’s hit six home runs to the opposite field this season, and 12 of his 31 extra-base hits have gone to left.
Among American League left-handed hitters, only Detroit Tigers outfielder Riley Greene and Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz have more opposite-field home runs. For a young hitter, Holliday’s power to left field is unique.
“I think everything that Jackson does is rare,” former Orioles first baseman Ryan O’Hearn said.
That approach started at the beginning of Holliday’s career. When he was 12 years old, he would hit almost all of his home runs to left field. His father, Matt Holliday, was also a prolific opposite-field hitter during his 15-year MLB career and instilled the importance of it in his children.
Jackson Holliday’s ideal swing is hitting the ball the other way, he said. When he steps up to the plate, his eyes settle in left-center field. If he focuses on driving a fastball that way, he can cover other offspeed pitches all over the plate, the 21-year-old infielder said.
“That’s the baseline for how I learned to hit my entire life,” Holliday said.
In the modern game, opposite-field approaches have been de-emphasized. The numbers suggest that balls hit to the pull side with loft are the best way to generate home runs and extra-base hits. Players such as O’Hearn, former Orioles star Anthony Santander and other sluggers hit almost exclusively to the pull side.
But there’s still value to using all parts of the field, Orioles hitting coach Cody Asche said. It’s harder to teach a pull-happy hitter how to spray the ball the other way than it is to teach the opposite.
“What makes Jackson really special is that he can execute a lot of different types of approaches because his bat path is really good,” Asche said.
Holliday is hitting .293 with 39 hits and an average exit velocity of 90.3 mph on all batted balls the opposite way, according to Baseball Savant. Holliday’s power to left field plays well in Camden Yards, particularly the “splash zone” in left-center field. His six opposite-field home runs have come on three sliders and three fastballs.
“Usually those were doubles in minor leagues and I’d say just getting stronger, the ball starts to carry a little more,” Holliday said. “That’s where I want to hit fastballs, and that’s when I feel like I’m at my best.”
Asche, who says that Holliday’s maturity at the plate rivals any hitter he has worked with, believes that Holliday can eventually have a .400-plus on-base percentage.
The hitting coach envisions former Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins as the kind of player Holliday should aspire to emulate. Rollins, the 2007 National League Most Valuable Player, posted a rare 20-homer, 20-triple, 20-steal season that year — a level of production that Asche believes Holliday could one day match.
“In five years, I’d love him to have four years of hitting leadoff under his belt for the Baltimore Orioles,” Asche said. “A guy that doesn’t change what he’s really good at to put up power numbers. Just allow himself to grow into power.”
But to unlock his ceiling, Holliday’s pull-side power must improve. He’s hitting .111 on pitches to the bottom inside corner of the zone, a stark contrast with his .500 batting average on high inside strikes. Asche and Holliday both envision his power to right field refining as his 6-foot, 185-pound frame fills out.
“I think the slug comes from pull-side flyballs. … The most important is slugging at a high clip,” Holliday said. “I think that’s something I need to learn a little bit better.”
Interim manager Tony Mansolino said that he hopes opposing teams look at the Orioles’ lineup, see Jackson Holliday and Gunnar Henderson at the top, and ask themselves, “How do we pitch to both of these guys?”
He’s not there yet — Holliday is hitting .254 with a .697 OPS this season — but the former top prospect is clearly on track to soon become one of the game’s best young hitters.
“I think it’s a perfect plan. As he gets older and stronger, it’s only going to get better,” O’Hearn said.
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