You can practically taste the excitement around rookie Jackson Holliday of the Baltimore Orioles.
The Orioles, who ranked the 20-year-old infielder as their third-best prospect at the time, welcomed him to spring training last year. He currently holds the top spot in baseball as the game’s most promising prospect.
Is Holliday prepared to take the next step and make the Orioles Opening Day roster? That is the question that is on everyone’s mind at the moment.
As of right now, a lot of predictions have Holliday playing second base for the Orioles. CBS Sports provided one of these predictions, but those experts felt it was appropriate to query Holliday’s preparedness as well.
However, if he is currently baseball’s top prospect, why even address the question?
The reason for this may be found in Holliday’s at best erratic performance during spring training, which preceded a small positive breakout on Tuesday afternoon.
Both observers and enthusiasts have scrutinized Holliday’s batting exploits. The infielder had a.690 OPS and was hitting.235 in his 17 at-bats prior to Tuesday’s play. only managed two extra-base hits, a double and a triple, over that period. Other than those hits, he only managed two hits.
Perhaps more concerning is the decline from Holliday’s spring training in 2023 to the present. Holliday had a startling 2024 strikeout percentage of.412, up from a.286 strikeout rate the year before, as of Tuesday.
Of course, the main reason could be sample size, since Holliday only appeared in 14 games during his rookie campaign. But the percentages can be warning signs of things to come in the majors.
Can Jackson Holliday, the top prospect for the Orioles, make the Opening Day roster?
Manager Brandon Hyde seemed ready to add Holliday to the Opening Day roster despite the numbers. During the Winter Meetings in December, he had previously assured the media that Holliday would have “every opportunity” to be on the Opening Day roster.
Holliday admitted that he hasn’t realized he has been successful at every level he has played at in an interview with WBAL News Radio. Holliday stated, “That was my goal, kind of something that I expect.” “Making it to Double-A and being in the major leagues in two years was my goal.”
There has been much discussion about Holliday’s rise to the top of the baseball hierarchy, but only time will tell if he is prepared to live up to the expectations. Hopefully, Tuesday was a bright spot and a turning point; Holliday doubled his preseason tally of extra-base hits by going 3-for-4 with a double and a triple. Does a prospect’s timeline change after one successful game? What about one awful week after a remarkable minor-league season? Is that a large enough sample size to stifle momentum? To make a decision, we’ll need a little more information, either way.