SARASOTA, Fla. — Jackson Holliday, baseball’s No. 1 prospect, looks 16, is 20, acts professional and feels comfortable in the Orioles clubhouse. Word is he has a fair shot to make the O’s as their Opening Day second baseman, and if they decide the natural shortstop needs a few more reps at second, he’ll be up sometime this year when he’s still 20 (he won’t be 21 until Dec. 4).
“Anything he does,” says Orioles GM Mike Elias, “he’s ahead of the curve.”
Elias means on a ballfield, but that goes for life, too. Holliday married his high school sweetheart, Chloe Cox, just a few weeks out of his teen-aged years. Now, two months later, he’s here in camp competing for second base with veterans Jorge Mateo, Ramon Urias and Kolten Wong and highly ranked prospects (though obviously not quite as high as him) like Jordan Westburg from baseball’s consensus No. 1 farm system.
It’s only a matter of how soon for Holliday, who specializes in soon.
The oldest of Cardinals great Matt Holliday’s three ballplaying sons, he justified the No. 1 overall draft selection — one spot ahead of Braves legend Andruw Jones’ son Druw — by flying through the minors leagues faster than even Derek Jeter did. He’s played just 14 games at Low-A Delmarva, 57 at High-A Aberdeen, 36 at Double-A Bowie and 14 at Triple-A Norfolk, producing a combined .323/.442/.499/.941 slash line that suggests he’s ready now.
Sunday he blasted his first homer of the spring — a grand slam, to boot — and raised his OPS to .917. He’s hitting .286 in 32 at-bats.
“The kid comes to play every minute of the day and brings his A swing each time,” says one American League scout. “The kid has big-time tools with lots of fun and energy at a very high level and is going to excel for years to come at the highest level very soon.”
Jackson Holliday #87 of the Baltimore Orioles hits a double in the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies during a 2024 Grapefruit League Spring Training game. Getty Images Holliday’s been stamped a future star by everyone who’s laid eyes on him, and just a few questions remain as the Orioles evaluate his readiness over the next two-plus weeks:
1) Does he have enough time at second base, where he played one day a week last year and is playing 80 percent of the time down here?
2) Has the left-handed hitter seen enough big-league caliber lefties?
3) Can he beat out a stacked roster of infielders?
The usual question of whether the small-market, formerly tight-as-hell Orioles want to delay his MLB clock isn’t an issue now that they are getting a new owner, David Rubenstein, possibly even by Opening Day. The Orioles, according to Elias, are in “win-now mode.” If Holliday does join shortstop Gunnar Henderson, they have a chance to form a double-play combination of back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners, as Jayson Stark of The Athletic pointed out.
The Orioles, who are tearing through the Grapefruit League at a 14-2 clip, probably should be American League favorites even if the Las Vegas arrow still points slightly to the more experienced Yankees and more accomplished Astros. The O’s ran away in allegedly baseball’s toughest division, winning 101 games against allegedly baseball’s toughest competition, before showing their youth in the playoffs. They did it with MLB’s seventh youngest batting age (27.2 via Baseball Reference) and 11th youngest pitching age (28.4).
Holliday will only help those numbers as he should be the youngest player in the majors. But don’t let the age or cherubic face fool you. He’s more mature, professional and respectful (he paid homage to Brian Roberts, JJ Hardy and others for their spring tutelage).
“He’s all business every day,” Elias says.
Let’s face it, as the son of a seven-time major league All-Star who hung around winning Cardinals clubhouses, he knew what he was getting into. And in his case, with a father who posted a .299 batting average and hit 316 homers over a 15-year career, an uncle Josh Holliday who’s head coach at Oklahoma State (where his power-hitting brother, Ethan, is committed for now to go) and extraordinary skill that surfaced barely out of the crib, he was groomed for this. He was home schooled while playing for Stillwater (Okla.) High School, and there was no pretense he’d do anything else. Before he went pro, when someone would ask what time he’d rise in the morning, he’d honestly tell them he’d sleep in, ’til about 10, to prepare himself for “pro life,” where most games are played at night.
Jackson Holliday #87 of the Baltimore Orioles rounds second base after hitting a triple in the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies. Getty Images Now that he’s arrived in a big-league clubhouse, there’s no customary acclimation period.
“It feels like home,” Holliday says. “It’s where I grew up.”
The big-league clubhouse is where everyone imagines he’ll be for the next decade or two, even if he has to wait until May or June to get started. He seeks to make the team but is unworried about the possibility of waiting a few months to join this young juggernaut.
“I can’t imagine a better spot to be in,” he says. “It’s win-win.”
Win-win sounds like two days in this Orioles camp. Almost all they do is win down here, and things will only get better for them, thanks to all their ability and youth, attributes that Holliday combines like no other.
