The Baltimore Orioles showed in 2023 that their young talent is ready to win now. Aided by the massive addition of former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes, the O's head into the new season with a lot of excitement. But the hype train isn’t at top speed just yet, as the team opted to withhold its promotion of top prospect Jackson Holliday until a later date.
To the surprise and dismay of fans everywhere throughout the baseball world, Holliday was not selected to be on the Opening Day roster for 2024. The stud infielder is the top prospect in all of MLB but, unlike other top names like Jackson Chourio and Wyatt Langford, he's going to start the season in Triple-A.
According to Roch Kubatko of Masn, Orioles general manager Mike Elias simply wants to bring Holliday along slowly. Although he is very pleased with what the 20-year-old has done, Elias wants him to get more experience before becoming a full-time big-leaguer.
“He is way, way ahead of the curve,” Elias said, via Masn. “He’s 20 years old, he just turned 20 a couple months ago. He’s reached Triple-A, he’s moved through the minors at a pace we haven’t seen in a couple of decades, arguably. And when we think about development and completing the development of a player of his talent, and it’s something we have some experience doing – we’ve done it now with Adley (Rutschman) and Gunnar, and guys like Jordan Westburg – there’s a lot of considerations involved so that when they do start their major league careers, you want them to be able to stay. And guys of that marquee caliber, you want them to be able to start their careers in full-blown, full-time roles…”
Orioles want to get Jackson Holliday more experience before MLB jump
Holliday looks as ready to go, posting a slash line of. .311/.354/.600 in 48 plate appearances in 2024 Spring Training. But because of his lack of experience against MLB-level arms — specifically lefties, Elias noted — the team wants to see a little bit more before making the leap to the big leagues. Other notable Baltimore prospects like Heston Kjerstad and Coby Mayo were re-assigned to minor-league camp along with Holliday.
Throughout spring Training, Elias was vocal in his praise for Holliday, who he drafted first overall in the 2022 draft. He and Gunnar Henderson should be one of the best middle-infield duos in baseball for a long time but the Orioles want to make sure Holliday has familiarity with second base since Henderson occupies shortstop, where Holliday spent most of his games in the minor leagues.
The Orioles are nested in one of the absolute best MLB divisions, facing tough playoff-caliber teams like the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. Even the Boston Red Sox have the chance to be decently competitive. But with so many of their key players still so young, it's also about the future for them. Thanks to their expert scouting and some shrewd roster moves, they can afford to be extra patient with their impressive crop of talent.
Obviously, Jackson Holliday's exclusion from the Orioles' Opening Day roster doesn’t put a huge damper on his MLB career. He's still held in high regard by the team and clearly has the potential to be special. The team is simply playing it slow and steady before unleashing the rising star and fortifying the big-league roster even further.
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