From the moment the Baltimore Orioles made Jackson Holliday the first overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, the now-20-year-old shortstop was faced with huge expectations as one of the centerpieces of the Orioles’ rebuild.
Holliday quickly soared to the top of prospect rankings, following in the footsteps of Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson — former top prospects in the sport who are now the engines of an upstart Orioles squad that won 101 games a season ago.
The excitement for Holliday’s arrival continues to grow this spring, and MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis isn’t putting any limits on Holliday’s expectations.
“He’s so good that you really can’t go overboard,” Callis said on Glenn Clark Radio March 4.
Holliday soared through the ranks in his first full season in the Orioles system in 2023. He slashed .323/.442/.499 across four levels, finishing the season with Triple-A Norfolk.
MLB Pipeline recently released its updated prospect rankings, with Holliday at the top of the list as the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball. Thanks to his meteoric rise, many observers were penciling Holliday in as part of the Orioles’ Opening Day middle infield, but the Orioles reassigned Holliday to minor league camp on March 22..
“Nothing he does this year would shock me,” Callis said. “… The only player I can remember rising that quickly in his first full professional season is literally the greatest prospect I have ever seen, which is [Alex Rodriguez].”
Callis isn’t worried about whether Holliday will be able to fulfill his lofty expectations. Unlike Rutschman, Holliday won’t be making his Major League debut for a bottom-feeding Orioles team, and he has a rich baseball bloodline that has prepared him for this situation.
“He just has to come in and be a cog. Like, we’re not asking him to end years of losing all by himself,” Callis said. “His makeup is off the charts, the baseball IQ is off the charts. … I guess nobody’s ever ‘can’t-miss’ — I don’t see how this guy misses.”
Holliday isn’t the only Orioles prospect Callis is bullish on. MLB Pipeline is higher on Colton Cowser than many other sites, with the outfielder coming in as the Orioles’ third-ranked prospect. He checks in after Holliday and Samuel Basallo and ahead of Coby Mayo, Heston Kjerstad and Enrique Bradfield Jr.
This ranking comes after Cowser struggled at the major league level last season, batting .115 in 26 games with the Orioles. Callis believes Cowser has been overlooked in an Orioles system that has featured some of the best prospects in the sport in recent years.
“I just think he gets overshadowed because it’s not jaw-dropping tools, but he might be solid across the board when all is said and done, playing center field,” Callis said. “… Cowser might have the second-highest floor in the organization besides Jackson Holliday.”
With a strong big league roster and a deep farm system, the Orioles will be facing a roster crunch at various positions. They have more MLB-caliber players than roster spots, and they’ll have to decide whether to trade from their surplus of prospects or move a veteran before he hits free agency.
Callis said those are the decisions the Orioles will need to make this year, and he leans toward the former.
“I’m sure Orioles fans would like to see more Corbin Burnes-type trades,” Callis said. “… The other thing that happens, too, is injuries happen. I think the Orioles were somewhat fortunate with injuries last year. Somebody could get hurt, and then all the sudden, bam, there’s at-bats that open up for somebody.”
For more from Callis, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles
Updated March 22, 2024