The Baltimore Orioles shocked the baseball world by calling up the MLB’s #1 prospect Jackson Holliday to play in their series against the Boston Red Sox. Jackson, the 20-year-old son of former MLB player Matt Holliday, was selected with the first overall pick back in the 2022 MLB draft and has quickly made his way through the Orioles organization, being promoted to Triple-A Norfolk in his second career season. There were people who fully expected him to make the opening day roster for the Orioles but ultimately ended up back in Norfolk to start 2024. However, things once again developed quickly for Holliday as on April 10, the Orioles selected his contract and called him up to the big leagues to make his MLB debut at Fenway Park.
Through his first five games, Holliday has just one hit across 15 at-bats. Nine of his first 15 ABs ended in a strikeout and he hasn’t drawn a walk. Some people have pointed out some shaky defense, specifically at the games in Boston with multiple fly balls dropping over his head. Despite this, he made some nice plays on the field, including a solid sliding stop in Thursday’s game against the Red Sox that stopped a hit.
As kind of expected, Holliday is hitting a learning curve with his transition into the MLB. For being as young as he is and not having played professional baseball for that long, it makes sense that he isn’t hitting the ground running in his first few games as a major leaguer.
With that being said, I think the move to call up Holliday was a little premature and another player should’ve been called up instead.
This is not to discredit how good a player Jackson Holliday is as he is clearly talented. In spring training, the 20-year-old had an OPS of .954 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI with seven of his 14 hits going for extra bases. In his 10 games in Norfolk before being called up, Holliday had an OPS of 1.077 with 5 doubles and 2 homers to go alongside his 9 RBI on probably the most talented lineup in minor league baseball.
The thing is, Baltimore’s farm system is one of the most stacked in baseball. They had plenty of guys they could’ve called up to fill their roster while Jackson Holliday got more experience under his wing. It’s crazy to even think that they have players that had a hotter start to their season in Triple-A, but Heston Kjerstad is proof that someone is. Kjerstad has played in 15 games in Norfolk this year and already has 7 home runs and 27 RBI. This along with a .361 BA, .770 SLG and a 1.208 OPS are just insane numbers to be produced at the highest level of the minor leagues. What Kjerstad offered too over Holliday was already having MLB experience. The outfielder made his debut in 2023 and played in 13 games for the Orioles and already has two major league home runs and three RBI.
Now roster construction wise it makes sense why Holliday was called up. Being a shortstop/second baseman, Holliday filled the gap that was left when the team released Tony Kemp from the roster. But Baltimore’s outfielders have been off to a so-so start so far this season. Austin Hays (.086) and Anthony Santander (.180) are both batting below the Mendoza line, but Colton Cowser and Cedric Mullins seem to be doing just fine. Mullins has three home runs and 10 RBI while Cowser, another young star on this Baltimore team, has been absolutely crushing the ball lately, including a two home-run game against Boston on April 11. Meanwhile Baltimore’s infield is already loaded with talent, with players like Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg and Ryan Mountcastle all producing at high rates this early this season. Especially with the way Austin Hays has been playing this season, it would make a lot of sense for Kjerstad to be called up soon; I am a little surprised Holliday was called up before him. I think the Orioles’ organization got a little jumpy with trying to rush Holliday to the majors that they didn’t care if he was ready for it or not.
High strikeout rates (60%) and a low average exit velocity (84.2 mph) show that he might not be ready to play on the biggest stage at the moment, but there is still plenty of hope for the future. Getting him this experience now also isn’t a completely awful idea, to be fair. The MLB debut is out of the way as well as his home debut which should help take away some of the stress that might be weighing down on such a young player. Getting Holliday to a point where he can swing the bat confidently at the highest level of the game should be the Orioles’ main concern with him now, and I think that involves just a little more time in the minor leagues before being called up again.