Phillies Ace Praises Baltimore Orioles Top Prospect Jackson Holliday
A decision on whether Baltimore Orioles top prospect Jackson Holliday will be on the Opening Day roster still hasn't been made.
While the 20-year-old is regarded as the best prospect in baseball and has played well during Spring Training, the team hasn't made an official decision just yet.
Holliday faced a great test on Tuesday as the Orioles took on the Philadelphia Phillies and Zack Wheeler, a Cy Young candidate.
In his first at-bat against Wheeler, Holliday hit a 104.4 mile per hour double.
It's at-bats similar to that one that shows he has as bright of a future as anyone in baseball. As a result, Wheeler had nothing but good things to say about the future star, according to Paul Casella of MLB.com.
"He's obviously got the power to go with it. … He should be a good player."
Holliday added another two hits, finishing the game going 3-for-4 with a double and triple. His triple and single were hit at 102.3 miles per hour.
Slashing .333/.364/.619 so far, Holliday has done everything he can to warrant a big league roster spot.
After the game, he spoke about how he wanted to compete against the best and was also encouraged to hit a double off one of the game's best.
What's most impressive about Holliday is his ability to slow the game down. It's obvious that he's years above his age in terms of maturity and that goes a long way.
With a father who played in the big leagues, he understands what it takes to succeed at this level.
Manager Brandon Hyde was impressed with Holliday and was excited to see him compete against Wheeler as that's the caliber of arm he'll see during the regular season.
For now, Holliday has done everything he can.
It's now up to Baltimore to decide what happens next.
