Holliday's torrid stretch finds new level with first homers of '23
The Jackson Holliday experience just continues to get better and better.
The No. 10 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline has been unstoppable in his first taste of April pro ball for Single-A Delmarva, now smacking his first two big flies of 2023 during action Friday.
The two roundtrippers also mark Holliday's first multihomer game of his professional career.
The first was a three-run moonball that extended the Shorebirds' lead to nine runs in the fifth inning and was certainly not a cheapie. Holliday drilled the towering opposite-field shot over the left-field wall with power that could give fans flashbacks of his father, seven-time All-Star Matt Holliday.
The second long ball came in the top of the ninth when he drilled a solo shot, making the score 13-4. Delmarva would go on to defeat Fredericksburg, 16-4.
The first overall selection in the 2022 MLB Draft spent eight games last summer in Rookie-level ball but forced the O’s to promote him after slashing a ridiculous .409/.576/.591. He then posted a respectable .772 OPS in 12 games with the Shorebirds to finish off the year.
Now in 2023, the Orioles' No. 2 prospect has returned to the video-game numbers he produced in the Florida Complex League. Through 12 games with the Shorebirds, he once again is touting a downright silly .404/.533/.681 slash line.
What makes Holliday’s dominance even more impressive is that even at his age (just 19 years old), he already looks like a grizzled veteran at the plate. His 13:11 walk to strikeout ratio demonstrates he is not just a hit machine, but a selective hitter who understands a professional strike zone.
Holliday deposited a single into center in the seventh, aiding his 3-for-6 night with four RBIs. He has reached base in each of his 12 games to begin the year, collecting at least one knock in 10 of those outings.