Wednesday brought big news to the MLB world: Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday and Arizona Diamondbacks Outfielder Corbin Carroll are now sidelined with Hamate injuries, one day after the New York Mets Star Shortstop Fracisco Lindor was sidelined for the next four to six weeks. This is becoming an issue this season, before Spring Training even gets started. This is a unique circumstance as the coincidental injury of three stars in Major League Baseball is probably on the shelf to start the season. In Jackson Holliday’s case, he is confirmed out for a couple of weeks after Opening Day.
Hamate Epidemic?
The question that arises after the last 24 hours is… Is baseball having a Hamate injury epidemic? The answer is no. I compiled some data, and there have not been more than three hamate injuries for regular major leaguers since 2015. Some years, we do not have any. It is easy to overreact to a 24-hour period that makes you feel like it happens all the time. Last season, we had three hamate injuries: Catcher for the New York Mets, Francisco Alvarez, Miami Marlins infielder Connor Norby, and Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies.
It almost feels like the NBA with their recent epidemic of the onslaught of Achilles injuries. It was always referred to as “An old guy injury”, but now we are seeing young stars like Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton get it. Of course, the Achilles in basketball seems to have a correlation with a calf aggravation, but the point is that it is a more common injury than we all might like to have.
The Hamate epidemic is so far a coincidence, and I am not willing to call it a trend after a 24-hour news cycle, but I will be absolutely shocked if I hear another one before the week’s end. ESPN’s Jeff Passan broke the Corbin Carroll news just after there were reports out of Sarasota for Orioles Camp about Jackson Holliday missing most likely eight or more weeks.
Jackson Holliday and the Baltimore Orioles
Jackson Holliday was the number one prospect in baseball for the Baltimore Orioles in the 2024 season. He was called up mid-way through, but bounced back in 2025. I would not say that he bounced back in a big way, but he swatted 17 homers and batted .249 with a .314 OBP. This was a much-needed step in the right direction for the year.
The reason this Holliday news is so disheartening is that the Orioles front office and faithful were super excited about his potential rise in 2025. The former number 1 prospect was projected to see great improvements, according to Fangraphs. While the slashline projects to still improve those counting stats that young fans like to see may not be there since he may miss close to a month post-opening day. Holliday’s plate discipline had him battling leadoff for the Baltimore Orioles. According to Baseball Savant, they had him in the 85th percentile for plate discipline.
In a late-offseason savvy move, Orioles GM Mike Elias traded with the Arizona Diamondbacks for promising young infielder Blaze Alexander. He is now projected to be the starting second baseman on Opening Day. Alexander has had minimal success in the Major Leagues to this point, but is a good fielder and profiles well as a bench player. He will be fine at the bottom of the much-improved Orioles lineup to start the year, as long as Holliday does not have an extended absence.
Corbin Carroll
Corbin Carroll is a star in this league. He received $100 million before he even played a full season for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Carroll has a power/speed combination that rivals anyone except for the great Shohei Ohtani. If you open up his baseball savant page, it has everything but blue on it. The only issue with Carroll is his ability to stay fully healthy. He has had nagging injuries that have ailed him throughout the 2023 postseason and early each year. This shall continue for the early part of 2026.
An Article was written on the Corbin Carroll Situation Here:
