The Baltimore Orioles wasted no time making a much-anticipated promotion after defeating the Boston Red Sox, 7-1, to spoil the home opener at Fenway park on Tuesday afternoon.
Baltimore called up 20-year-old infielder Jackson Holliday, who’s ranked as the No. 1 prospect in all of MLB, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Holliday began the season playing every day in Triple-A Norfolk, but will now join the 6-4 big league club.
Son of retired All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday, Jackson was selected with first overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft by Baltimore. The left-handed-hitting prospect got a chance to showcase himself at spring training and impressed, batting .311/.354/.600 with two home runs and five RBIs in 12 games. From there, the Orioles elected not to give Holliday an Opening Day roster spot, but it didn’t take long for the youngster to receive his long-awaited call.
Holliday wrapped up 2023 hitting .323/.482/.595 with 12 home runs, 30 doubles and 75 RBIs for the Tide. Picking up right where he left off, Holliday didn’t miss a beat in Norfolk, logging a .342/.490/.605 slash line to start 2024 with a 58.1% hard-hit rate in just 10 games.
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Baltimore is booked to play twice more against the Red Sox, giving Holliday a chance to debut at Fenway Park.
The Orioles already have reigning American League Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson patrolling the middle infield at shortstop, however, Holliday did make a handful of starts at second base in Triple-A.
“He’s playing with a ton of energy,” Orioles manager Bradon Hyde said about Holliday during spring training, per MLB.com’s Jake Rill. “I like the defense he’s playing, too, that’s improved. And he’s taking really good at-bats.”
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Baltimore has four — Holliday, Samuel Basallo (No. 17), Coby Mayo (No. 28) and Heston Kjerstad (No. 30) — of MLB’s top-30 ranked MLB prospects in its farm system.
Featured image via Nathan Ray Seebeck/USA TODAY Sports Images
