Leftovers for breakfast

Perhaps the finest accomplishment that Jackson Holliday can reflect upon after the season is staying away from the injured list, but only if he makes it through the last three weeks unharmed. He’s in rare company. He’s a left-handed hitting unicorn.

Holliday sat yesterday after breaking up Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s no-hit bid Saturday with a two-out home run in the ninth inning. His 134^th game arrives after the off-day, second only to Gunnar Henderson, who will play in his 136^th.

Holliday is first on the team in at-bats with 525 and home runs with 17. His .710 OPS, 130 hits, 20 doubles, three triples, 53 RBIs, 47 walks, 65 runs and 15 stolen bases are second behind Henderson.

The free passes are coming in bunches now. Holliday had two more Friday and closed August with six in San Francisco. He’s drawn 23 in his last 25 games.

The 47 walks are the fourth-highest among Orioles 21 or younger after Curt Blefary’s 88 in 1965, Boog Powell’s 49 in 1963 and Eddie Murray’s 48 in 1977, according to STATS. Cal Ripken Jr. had 46 in 1982.

Holliday walked 15 times and struck out 69 in 60 games as a rookie. He was 75/77 in 73 games with Triple-A Norfolk in 2024

“I think he walked a lot in the minor leagues,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “When he go there he was really aggressive. And I think sometimes it’s naïve to think that walks in the minor leagues translate to walks in the major leagues. It’s completely different.

“Usually, you’ve got to kind of spook them out of the zone a little bit to draw walks in the big leagues, and I think he kind of went on a journey a little bit this year to be aggressive. We saw a lot of 0-0 aggression, maybe over-aggressiveness at certain times, and I think as he’s matured in year 21 in his life, and really his first year in the big leagues, which is essentially his rookie year, I think he’s figuring out that just because he can hit a pitch doesn’t mean he should swing at it.

“I think a lot of young hitters, just because they can touch it, they swing at it. And he’s learning right now that’s not what he needs to do, that he needs to swing at pitches that he can do damage on. He’s been a great little story for me here over the last couple weeks, and even during some of the struggles, he was starting to draw walks and figure some things out.”

Holliday went 19-for-103 (.184) with a .600 OPS in August but stayed in the leadoff role. His .328 OBP was his highest in any month going into September.

In some ways, the Orioles are seeing a better version of Holliday with his plate approach, but they also understand that he’s just nicking the surface of his vast potential and patience is a requirement. Anyone rushing to judgement is making a mistake.

“I think I’ve seen a couple other pretty good stretches out of him, but in terms of being encouraged by the kid, we are thrilled by the kid,” Mansolino said. “Again, it’s a 21-year-old kid who’s gonna throw up a .250, .700, possibly if he gets hot a 20-20. He’s getting better by the day defensively.

“The double play he turned in San Diego was a 1.1 pop time. We have a system that measures it all. It is lightning fast, it’s one of the best in the big leagues this year. … That is elite of the elite. Not all of his have been that way, but at the end of his first year in the big leagues he turns a double play in a big spot at a 1.1. He is starting to move forward with that.

“So we are just super thrilled with the kid. He’s becoming a basestealer, he’s gonna be a really good defender. At age 24, the kid’s gonna win a Gold Glove or contend for one. He’s 21, it’s gonna take a little bit of time, but we’re really thrilled with the kid.”

* The Orioles completed their 6-2 victory over the Padres Tuesday evening with Dylan Beavers charging a sinking liner from Ryan O’Hearn and making a diving catch. The force of his body hitting the ground had to hurt, but it also felt like redemption.

Beavers moved over from left field, where he misplayed two balls earlier in the night. Mansolino inserted Daniel Johnson in left and shifted Beavers to right as Jeremiah Jackson’s defensive replacement.

The rookie overran a foul ball in the left field corner and had another ball deflect off his glove for a double on the warning track, which led to Luis Arraez’s two-run homer off Tyler Wells.

Given another chance, Beavers rewarded Mansolino’s confidence in him.

“It was nice, it was good just to bounce back from some frustrations in left early,” he said. “Like everyone on the team was saying, just move on, be ready for the next play. So that’s what I was trying to do.”

Beavers was playing in the 16^th of his 18 major league games. He’s already facing the challenges presented by major league pitching, and he’s also trying to get used to the larger ballparks with a third deck, the lights and larger crowds. The Padres announced a sellout on Tuesday.

They rode him pretty hard.

“It’s a bigger adjustment than the bat for me personally,” he said. “But I’m get work in before the game and try to improve every day. It’s really all I can control, and then go out there and do my best when the game begins.”

The offensive side has gone much smoother for Beavers, who’s batting .291/.426/.418 with four doubles, a home run, six RBIs and 13 walks. He didn’t play Wednesday or yesterday but will return to the lineup Tuesday against the Pirates at Camden Yards.

Coby Mayo went through another lengthy pregame session at first base Wednesday before playing nine innings in a 7-5 win that completed the sweep.

Mayo was paired again with senior advisor John Mabry and built up a heavy sweat before putting his body through the rigors of another game. Teammates had retreated to the clubhouse. Mayo was just getting busy.

“I think that goes back to the offseason, working really hard and being in the gym and just being relentless in the offseason, because these last few weeks, it’s what you kind of push for in the offseason,” Mayo said.

“It can get tiring and it is tiring in the moment, but you kind of have to, whatever you want to do, shower, rinse it off, get ready for the game, go walk in, go to the cage, whatever you need to do to kind of get ready. Go get some food, because we’ve got a game to play and this is the major leagues and it’s really hard and you want to give it your best foot forward all the time.”

* There’s room for one more Cal Ripken Jr. story as we move past the 2,131 celebration.

I remembered how he homered on the nights that he tied and broke Lou Gehrig’s record for consecutive games played. I didn’t know that he also homered on 2,129 to begin the series against the Angels.

Ripken hadn’t hit one since Aug. 10 in Boston. The sudden surge in power can be credited to a future Hall of Fame pitcher, starter Mike Mussina, who offered a suggestion.

Sometimes, it’s OK to veer out of your lane.

“I like the story of 2,129,” Ripken said. “I was trying to find my swing, and right here in the corner of the dugout Mike Mussina came over to me and said, ‘Why don’t you spread out a little bit, put a little flex in the knees, let the ball come to you,’ or something. So I went up and did exactly what he told me and I hit a home run off Jim Abbott to right field. So I came back and gave him the credit. But that feeling fed over into 2,130 and I hit a homer in 2,130, and by the time I got to 2,131, I was feeling pretty good.

“I do credit sometimes early on in my career playing in a big series in Milwaukee my first year, playing in the playoffs and World Series my second year, and winning. Trying to perform in All-Star Games when you’re the only show on TV at that time. You kind of learn yourself and learn how, if I try too hard or I let it get to me too much, then I don’t do anything, so just relax. So I trained myself. So in that 2,131 game it was hard to calm down, but I said, ‘Take a deep breath, it’s not that big. See the ball and hit the ball.’ Which was one of my dad’s favorite lines, just see it and hit it. Don’t worry about where your hands are or where your feet are and all that kind of stuff. Just see it and hit it.

“And at that particular time I wasn’t very good at hitting 3-0 counts. I think probably cause Earl Weaver yelled at me my rookie year. I made an out on a high 3-0 pitch and he said, ‘If you’re gonna swing at that, I’m not gonna give it to you anymore.’ And so then, every time I got 3-0, I’d be like, ‘I better not swing now.’ But on that particular night I got 3-0 and I said, ‘Just focus on the ball and put a good swing on it,’ and I hit a home run. So it was good.”