Orioles, Pirates Star Prospects Keen on Showdown in Spring Breakout
The MLB Spring Breakout is baseball’s way of showcasing its top prospects during spring training.
For the most part, top prospects work out in the shadows. They may spend a week or two with the Major League camp, but they tend to move over to minor league camp once it starts in early March.
That probably won’t be the case for Baltimore Orioles top prospect Jackson Holliday. There is a good chance he’ll make the Orioles’ Opening Day roster.
The Orioles’ prospects will play the Pirates’ prospects on March 14. We won’t know what the rosters for the games will look like until March 7. But this game could offer a unique opportunity, one that Pirates top prospect and pitcher Paul Skenes is keen on.
Skenes was the Pirates’ first-round pick and the No. 1 overall pick last summer after an exceptional career at LSU, where he led the Tigers to a national championship.
Recently, Skenes spoke to MLB.com about the potential for facing his predecessor as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, which happens to be Holliday.
“They’ve got a pretty good lineup,” Skenes said. “We’re going to face them a few times anyway, but if that’s the first time I face [Holliday] and a couple of guys in that lineup, awesome.”
Holliday reciprocated the excitement about a potential matchup.
"Getting to watch the College World Series unfold last year and all that he did, it would be pretty cool to be able to face him as like a No. 1 pick vs. No. 1 pick thing,” he said.
Holliday batted .323/.442/.499/.941 with 30 doubles, nine triples, 12 home runs, 75 RBI and 24 stolen bases. He made four minor-league stops last season, his first in the minors, and finished up at Triple-A Norfolk.
