As much success as the Baltimore Orioles have had in recent years in developing young hitters like Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson, one player who has struggled at the Major League Baseball level thus far is Jackson Holliday.
The consensus number-one prospect entering the 2024 season, Holliday got the call to The Show in mid-April but quickly proved to be overmatched. He went just 2-for-34 with 18 strikeouts before getting demoted back to Triple-A, and though he was better after getting re-called at the end of July, he still finished his rookie campaign with a measly .189/.255/.311 batting line.
Of course, it would be foolish to give up on a 20-year-old mega-prospect who has laid waste to the minor leagues, but Holliday’s failure at the big league level proved he needed to make some adjustments. Holiday has shown up this spring with added muscle and has looked like, in the words of bench coach Robinson Chirinos, a different player. He has posted a .314 batting average through 12 Grapefruit League games and impressed his coaches and teammates with his aggressiveness on the bases.
With uncertainty surrounding Henderson’s intercostal strain, there are a lot of questions about what position Holiday will open the season at, but as he said to MLB.com’s Jake Rill, the 2022 first overall pick is just focused on playing his game.
“I’m still just enjoying the nice weather in Florida,” Holliday told Rill. “Coming out here and just focusing on what I can control.”
After watching superstars Anthony Santander and Corbin Burnes depart in free agency, a breakout from Holliday would be massive for the Orioles’ chances of keeping pace in the ultra-competitive American League East.
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