Baltimore Orioles Clear Path For Top Prospect to Make Opening Day Roster
The Baltimore Orioles have repeatedly stated that their goal is to put the best team on the field every single time.
Ideally, that includes their top prospect and consensus No. 1 in minor league baseball, Jackson Holliday.
He's been given every opportunity to make the Opening Day roster, and it will largely be based on how he performs during Spring Training.
So far, he hasn't really done anything to suggest he's ready.
Across six games and 17 at-bats, he's only recorded four hits, two of them for extra bases including a triple, but has also struck out seven times.
General manager Mike Elias has talked about starting Holliday in Triple-A if they don't think he's ready for the MLB at the beginning of the year.
But, based on comments made by Brandon Hyde, the path for the superstar prospect to make the Orioles' Opening Day roster is much more clear following the announcement of the defensive position where he will use Gunnar Henderson the most.
"He'll spend the majority of his time at shortstop this season, but Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said third base is 'still an option,'" reports Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.
With the third base position open, it will likely come down to a battle between Jordan Westburg and Ramon Urias.
There's a chance one will slide over to third and the other stays at second base, but this also gives Holliday an opportunity to become the starting second baseman, or at least be in a bench role.
It's already been stated that Baltimore is looking to use Jorge Mateo in more of a utility role and have him play in the outfield more often.
All this means is there is a more clear path for Holliday to make the roster.
Based on how Holliday has performed so far, he hasn't necessarily done enough to prove he should be with the Orioles for Opening Day.
There's still plenty of time remaining for him to change that tune.
It will be interesting to see if he gets more reps at second base as well.
