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A year ago, Jackson Holliday was the top-rated prospect in baseball, and the biggest story entering Orioles’ spring training.
In 2023, after just 20 professional games, Holliday had been given a courtesy invitation to major league spring training and performed admirably, hitting .429 (6-for-14) with an RBI in 16 games.
Holliday, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft, rocketed through the minor leagues, starting the season at Single-A Delmarva, where he had ended 2022, and getting promoted to High-A Aberdeen after just 12 games. He excelled with the IronBirds, and after 57 games, moved up to Double-A Bowie, and finally ended 2023 at Triple-A Norfolk.
His four-level stats were terrific — a .323 batting average with a .941 OPS, 12 home runs, 75 RBIs. He also stole 24 bases in 33 attempts—as a 19-year-old.
Holliday came into spring training last season with 18 games of Triple-A experience and with designs of making the Orioles’ Opening Day lineup. He was cut three days before spring training ended, despite a .311 average with a .954 OPS. He didn’t stay at Norfolk long. By April 10th, he was in the major leagues for a forgettable 10 games.
Holliday was 2-for-34 (.059) with 18 strikeouts and was back in Norfolk before the end of April. It took three months before Holliday returned, and while he didn’t sparkle, he hit .218 in 50 games with five home runs and 22 RBIs.
He ended the season hitting .368 (7-for-19) with two RBIs in his last nine games. He didn’t play in either loss to the Kansas City Royals in the Wild Card Series.
Holliday will start the season with the 2025 Orioles, unless something unforeseen happens.
“We’ve got a really great roster,” he said on Friday at the Orioles’ Birdland Caravan in Baltimore “I don’t think my mindset changes. I’m still trying to make the team and earn a spot and a starting spot. We have a really competitive team. That’s my mindset going in, is still compete for a job and try to get better every day, still learn how to play second base at a high level. I’m very excited for spring training.”
In the offseason, Holliday worked at home in Stillwater, Oklahoma, with his father, Matt, and his brother, Ethan, who could be the overall No. 1 pick in 2025.
“Definitely a lot to look forward to in the next year and the next few months for Big E,” Holliday said. “It’s been a lot of fun to watch him go through some of the similar process that I went through, meeting the teams. He’s doing a great job.”
At 21, Holliday still relies on his father’s expertise.
“I understand pretty much what happened last year,” he said. “I don’t think he needs to come up to me and remind me. I know what I need to do. I need to cut down strikeouts and continue to hit mistakes and hit fastballs.
“I think a lot of guys who get to the big leagues understand their swings. He’s very easy. I can learn a lot from him. It’s not ‘tough love’ or anything like that, just making adjustments, trying to cut down on strikeouts and make the defense work and put the ball in play.”
Elias on Carlson
On Monday, the Orioles signed outfielder Dylan Carlson to a one-year contract. The 26-year-old, who finished third in voting for the National League Rookie of the Year in 2021, hit a combined .209 in 96 games with the St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay last season.
He’s a switch-hitter, plays all three outfield positions and has minor league options remaining, a huge plus for the Orioles.
“I think he’s a very good addition for our depth in the outfield,” GM Mike Elias said. “He’s real versatile. He’s a switch-hitter and he can play all three outfield positions and he present some flexibility to our outfield.
“I think we have a very long baseball season. We’ve got to focus on that, and we’re gonna need a lot of people to help us get through the season, and I think Dylan’s a really high-quality addition to the roster in that regard because of the versatility he provides.
“He’s still very young and he’s coming off some injuries the last couple years that he’s got behind him, so hopefully he can have a bounce back. Even still, examining ways to just kind of bolster our outfield mix, and he was a big part of that.”
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