Former Orioles Top Prospect Failing to Live Up to Potential While Under Pressure

The Baltimore Orioles lost a lot of talent this offseason to free agency, headlined by the departure of two of their All-Star players; right fielder Anthony Santander and ace starting pitcher Corbin Burnes.

Losing a player of Burnes’ caliber is tough to overcome, as there are no in-house options and the team didn’t spend this offseason to bring in a player capable of replacing him.

It will be a total team effort on the mound, where they don’t have as deep of talent pool as with their lineup.

Losing an All-Star hitter, who is coming off a career-high 44 home runs and 102 RBI, would be the nail in the coffin for some franchises.

Not the Orioles though, who own one of the deepest group of position players in the entire sport.

Early in free agency, they landed some Santander insurance, agreeing to a three-year deal with Tyler O’Neill. He checked their boxes as a power-hitting right-handed batter, one of the needs then identified coming into the offseason.

If he can stay healthy, he will be a great replacement in the grass given his superior defensive skill and ability to get on base.

Alas, the player who might be under the most pressure to help compensate for the loss of their slugging switch-hitter is former No. 1 overall prospect, Jackson Holliday.

The No. 1 pick in the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft was fast-tracked through the Minor Leagues, making his debut with the Big League club after only 145 games as a professional player.

The results were not great, as he recorded an underwhelming .190/.255/.311 in 60 games and 190 at-bats. His start was so poor, he was demoted after 10 games after going 2-for-34 with 18 strikeouts.

He produced again at Triple-A, which led to a promotion later in the campaign. Jackson’s production did improve, but still left a lot to be desired.

Can he live up to that billing in Spring Training and lock down the starting second baseman’s job? Baltimore certainly hopes so, as he is one of the players they are hoping can step up and help replace the production lost with Santander moving on.

“The Orioles are going to need more from Holliday this year to offset the left-handed power deficit created by Anthony Santander’s departure as a free agent, with the switch-hitting Santander having crushed 32 homers from the left side of the plate in 2024,” wrote Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com in his piece detailing players who have to replace key departures in 2025.

Power isn’t Holliday’s No. 1 skill in his tool kit, but he is certainly capable of providing some from the left side of the plate.

Should he falter again early on, at least the team has other options they can turn to. Jordan Westburg could move to second base with another star prospect, Coby Mayo, taking over at third base if it is determined the former No. 1 overall pick needs a little more time to iron things out.