Baltimore Orioles' GM Provides Massive Update on Baseball's Top Overall Prospect
Baltimore Orioles' general manager Mike Elias provided a game-changing update on top prospect Jackson Holliday, saying that baseball's No. 1 prospect will work a lot at second base this spring.
We already knew that Holliday was going to be present in big league camp, and that he was going to have a chance to make the roster out of spring training, but now we're getting some clarity on where he'll play as he tries to do that.
Per Jake Rill of MLB.com on social media:
#Orioles GM Mike Elias just said on @IA1057TheFan that Jackson Holliday will see "a lot" of action at 2B in spring.
"I see some additional playing time for a left-handed hitter at second base," Elias said on the show.
Elias added O's want to keep Holliday "warm" at SS, too.
Holliday is primarily a shortstop but the Orioles appear primed to utilize American League Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson at short this year. Second base appears more open, as the team also has prospect Jordan Westburg there, so it should be a good battle between him and Holliday.
Holliday hit .323 last season, finishing the year at Triple-A. He hit 12 home runs, drove in 75 runs and also stole 24 bases. He's just 20 years old.
The following comes from his MLB.com prospect profile:
The combination of nature and nurture certainly come into play, with growing up around the game clearly helping Holliday’s overall skillset. He has an extremely advanced approach at the plate, and he showed it off by walking more than twice as much as he struck out during his debut last summer. He has a simple left-handed stroke he got back to after his swing got a little long last summer, allowing him make more hard contact than ever, with plenty of power coming organically from his swing.
With strength he added before his senior year, and with more to come, Holliday has also gotten faster and is a consistently plus runner. There’s an up arrow next to his arm strength as well and that, along with his improved quickness, means he should be able to play shortstop for a long time.
His father (Matt Holliday) played 15 years in the big leagues with the Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland Athletics, and New York Yankees. He spent part of eight years in St. Louis, six with Colorado, one with New York and part of one with Oakland. He was a seven-time All-Star selection, received MVP votes in eight different seasons and finished fifth in the 2004 National League Rookie of the Year voting.
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