The Orioles Should Call Up #1 Overall Prospect Jackson Holliday For Their Playoff Run
Is this a thing that the Orioles are going to do? Bringing up the guy who was just ranked the #1 prospect by literally every prospect grading system? MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, RDT's personal rankings, everyone with a pair if eyes around a baseball field knows Jackson Holliday is the best prospect in baseball. Shocker he is in the Orioles farm system, the rich keep getting richer. The kid is 19 and built like a house. He should be getting ready to tell his second grade teacher what books he read over Summer to try and win the class Book It challenge, instead he's hitting .336 across all minor league levels this year including .352 in AA Bowie where guys are 4-5 years older than him. He's incredible. John Heyman writes above that the Orioles HAVEN'T ruled out calling him up and all of Birdland's ears are tingling.
Are the Orioles actually going to make a move and bring him up to the big league? I don't think so. Should they? I believe they should because he is that good and will help the team immediately. Where would they put him? I guess short and move Gunnar Henderson and you can move the other guys around? It would be insanely exciting to see Holliday make his debut at 19 as the Orioles make their way towards hopefully a division title, what a story that would be. John Heyman wrote that Jackson's dad, Matt Holliday, said he had no clue and no insight into any call up for JH. Did I mention he's built like a house?
It's scary that he legitimately be the best player in the Orioles entire system and he's still in AA. Think about that. A team with Gunnar Henderson, Cedric Mullins, Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle, Felix Bautista, DL Hall, Grayson Rodriguez, Jordan Westburg, Ryan McKenna and there is a good chance he's the best player in the entire organization. SCARY to think about. It's funny because people kind of just assumed that once Adley and Gunnar came up that was the end of it all. That was the end of the prospect pipeline and good lord you all are wrong. Jackson 100% is the real deal by all accounts, read any prospect ranking on him and it's baseball porn.
It's funny too, going into the 2022 Draft the Orioles openly said there were 5 guys they were targeting at the 1.1 spot. Temarr Johnson, Druw Jones, Elijah Green, Jackson Holliday and Brooks Lee. I wrote blogs for 4 of those 5 guys just incase they drafted them. Guess which one I didn't do a blog for? Jackson. A year later hes by far the best player out of this group and by far the best player in the minors. So good that it's an actual conversation about whether or not the Orioles should bring up the 19 year-old and throw him onto the best team in the AL. A lottttt of comparisons to Manny Machado who the Orioles brought up when he was just 20 years-old and they were right in the middle of a playoff race. The one thing that is different from 2012 to now is that the Orioles NEEDED a third baseman, they had Mark Reynolds fumbling every ball over there. They needed a spark. The Orioles have Ramon Urias, and Gunnar Henderson playing some damn good defense over on the left side. I'm not saying Ramon is the reason they shouldn't bring up Holliday, but there isn't a glaring hole at any infield position (unless Mi Hermano JM3 is playing). Just the fact that this kid is 19 and the Orioles are attempting to win the hardest division in sports and are considering bringing him up says a lot.
So to answer your question, no the Orioles aren't bringing up Jackson Holliday. At least I don't think they are? I would LOVE it. I would lose my mind if they added this kid to a playoff run that hopefully goes deep into October but I think Opening Day 2024 is more realistic to start focusing on. But just think about it, how insane would it be if the Orioles did call him up? An already incredible season in Baltimore would get turned up a whole other notch. And again, I don't think it will happen, but I want it to. He is that good. And if you are a Yankees fan or Red Sox fan and you thought the prospect pipeline ended with Gunnar and Colton Cowser, boy do I have news for you. There are more coming after Jackson too, way more. I'll pray for the rest of the division. But until then just keep an eye on Holliday, kid is going to be special.