FILE - Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias speaks prior to a baseball game between the Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays, Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, in Baltimore. Elias was voted Major League Baseball's Executive of the Year on Tuesday, Nov. 7, after the team finished with the American League's best record for the first time since 1997. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
Watch: Top prospect who was controversially left off Orioles’ MLB roster hits HR in first at-bat of season in minors
Jackson Holliday is wasting no time making his case after being passed up for the Baltimore Orioles’ Opening Day roster.
The top infield prospect Holliday went viral Friday for a Saturn shot during his first plate appearance of the season in the minor leagues. Holliday, who is starting out the year at Triple-A Norfolk, got around on a 2-1 pitch with the bases empty and launched it into the next lifetime.
The 20-year-old Holliday, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, was surprisingly left off the Orioles’ final MLB roster to start off the year. That was in spite of an impressive spring in which Holliday produced a blazing .311/.354/.600 slash line to go along with two homers, six RBI and six runs scored in 15 total games.
Some Baltimore players had a strong negative reaction to the roster decision with Holliday. While service-time considerations likely came into play with that call, Holliday is obliterating any argument that he isn’t big-league ready right now.
One at-bat into his Triple-A season, Holliday answered the call. The Orioles want to expose him to high-end left-handed pitching and he took a lefty deep in his first at-bat. Hard to respond more authoritatively than that.
Holliday will play the entire 2024 season at age 20. He authored a .323/.442/.499 batting line with 30 doubles, 12 homers, and 101 walks while climbing from Low-A to Triple-A last year. All indications are Holliday, the son of longtime big leaguer Matt Holliday, will be an impact player and soon. He’s not long for Triple-A.
Of course, the Orioles did not need Holliday to cruise to an 11-3 win (box score) over the Los Angeles Angels on Opening Day. New ace Corbin Burnes struck out 11 in six innings of one-hit, one-run ball. Baltimore is loaded with young talent and Holliday still has yet to make his MLB debut.
