Infielder Jackson Holliday of the Baltimore Orioles is the consensus top prospect in all of baseball. He provided an acute reminder of his current status and future promise on Sunday, when he connected for a grand slam off Blue Jays lefty Yusei Kikuchi in Grapefruit League play. Here’s a look:
That one left the bat at a robust 103 mph. Making it more impressive is that Holliday was in an 0-2 hole and ceding the platoon advantage to Kikuchi, and he still managed to turn around a high, mid-90s fastball. While the usual caveats apply when it comes to spring-training numbers, we’ll nevertheless note that coming into Sunday the 20-year-old Holliday had a slash line of .292/.320/.542 down in Florida.
Not surprisingly, Holliday topped our list of the top 50 prospects in all of baseball going into the 2024 season. Here’s part of our write-up:
Holliday should not be able to exceed expectations. He was the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft, and his father Matt was a seven-time All-Star. He should be burdened with unobtainable forecasts. Yet Holliday has consistently bested the best-case scenario since his high school senior year. In his first full professional season, he blazed through three levels, closing out with an 18-game stint in Triple-A. There, he batted .267/.396/.400 with a 90 mph average exit velocity. He was 19 years old. All of Holliday’s indicators, statistical and otherwise, are neon green. He has every tool and intangible necessary to become a star, even if he might require some time to upscale his power from the “gap” to the “over-the-fence” variety. (He needs to add more muscle and loft.) Given his demonstrated ability to overachieve, it would be foolish to bet against him making an impact at the big-league level in 2024. There is, in our estimation, simply no better prospect in the minor leagues.
The Orioles have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to promising young infielders, but the expectation is that they’ll make room for Holliday on the Opening Day roster. He indeed looks ready to help the O’s defend their American League East crown in the upcoming season.
