For a player like 2025 breakout surprise Jeremiah Jackson, the path to a spot on the Baltimore Orioles' Opening Day roster looked complicated at the end of January. It got even more bleak come February, when the Orioles swung a trade for utilityman extraordinaire Blaze Alexander. It seemed as if both versatile chess pieces would be battling for the final bench spot. Now, only a couple of short weeks later, they'll be battling again, but this time for spots in the starting lineup.
Jackson Holliday's fractured hamate bone opened the door to a lot of questions about what realistic expectations for him should be.