Jeremiah

Jackson

Jackson gets the nod over Colton Cowser in right field and will make his first appearance away from the infield dirt this season after 48 games at second base to open the year. Jackson Holliday’s recent return as the club’s starting second baseman has complicated Baltimore’s infield picture, which means Jackson is probably going to wind up in a multi-position utility role moving forward.

Holliday, returning from a broken hamate bone, has been quite disappointing defensively at second base during his year and a half in the majors, mostly because of issues ranging to his right. A switch to third might help there, so it’s at least worth taking a look at. It still seems like that he’ll rejoin the team as a second baseman, with Jeremiah Jackson moving to third and Coby Mayo taking a seat or going to Triple-A.

Alexander told reporters his calf is feeling much better after undergoing treatment and he expects to be available off the bench this weekend. The versatile 26-year-old was scratched from Friday’s lineup with calf tightness. It’ll be Jeremiah Jackson at second base with Coby Mayo at the hot corner on Saturday evening in his place.

It looks to be nothing more than a routine night off for Jackson after the 26-year-old infielder after he played in both halves of Thursday’s doubleheader and clubbed a grand slam against the Astros. Blaze Alexander will start in his place at second base and bat ninth for the O’s against Will Warren and the Yankees.

The game was already broken open when the Astros turned to Jason Alexander in the seventh inning, but Jackson broke it further open by walloping a sweeper over the short fence in left field in Camden Yards to stake the Orioles to a 10-1 lead. Jackson’s power has been a revelation this year, as he’s now hitting .281/300/.500 after a .276/.328/.447 cup of coffee in 48 games last year. Maybe he’s just a good enough hitter that he’ll stick somewhere even when Jackson Holliday comes off the injured list.

Orioles skipper Craig Albernaz told reporters Holliday remains shut down from hitting, but is participating in some baseball activities, after leaving a minor league rehab contest with hand discomfort last week. The 22-year-old underwent surgery to repair a hamate fracture back in spring training. It doesn’t sound like he’s close to getting back in minor league games since the Orioles can’t really afford to take any chances with his long-term health.

Holliday was pulled off his previous rehab assignment last week due to some lingering wrist soreness, but it sounds like he’s ready to get back into game action. The emergence of unheralded Jeremiah Jackson as a viable everyday option for the Orioles at the highest level means that Holliday can take his time and make sure he’s feeling 100 percent ready before making his season debut.

What a week for Jackson. This two-out home put the finishing touches in a six-run eighth inning that the Orioles entered trailing 4-0. Over his last seven games, he has five home runs, 13 RBI, and a .429 batting average. It’s hard to have a better week than that and the Orioles might have a difficult decision on their hands with Jackson Holliday due back relatively soon from his broken hamate bone and the expectation that he could unseat Jackson at second base.

Jackson launched a 387-foot home run off of Eduardo Rodriguez at 110.4 mph off the bat for his fifth home run of the season. He’s now slashing .340/.345/.604 with 14 RBI and has emerged as a full-time player for Baltimore. With Coby Mayo struggling and Jackson Holliday (wrist) still working his way back from offseason surgery, Jackson seems likely to remain in the starting lineup and should be rostered in pretty much all formats while he’s swinging it this well.

Jackson’s slam in the sixth brought the Orioles to within one run at 7-6. They then took the lead in the seventh before Jackson added a solo shot for insurance in the eighth inning of the 9-7 win. It’s Jackson’s first career two-homer game, and he’s now hitting .318/.326/.545 in 46 plate appearances for the season. The question of whether Jackson or Coby Mayo would get sent down when Jackson Holliday returned seems moot for now because of Ryan Mountcastle’s broken foot, but Jackson would seem to be clearly ahead of Mayo on the depth chart based on how they’ve performed so far.