While just about everyone else will write the Jackson Holliday debut story after a come-from-behind 7-5 win at Fenway Park, I’ll take a pass on that. Holliday will have plenty of nights when he’ll deserve center stage — but not on April 10.
This was a time to imagine the grins on the faces of Mike Elias and Sig Mejdal when one of their gutsy draft picks, taken No. 30 overall as a competitive balance pick in the 2020 draft, lined a 2-2 pitch at an exit velocity of 111.2 mph into the center field cheap seats and completed an Orioles comeback, turning a 5-0 deficit into a 7-5 win.
Elias and Mejdal have been partnered at the hip ever since Mejdal followed Elias out of Houston. They probably have wide smiles on their faces considering what they have created in Baltimore.
Sure, Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins, Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander were all acquired by Dan Duquette and are important pieces to an Orioles team that won 101 games a season ago and just may be better in 2024. But as Holliday debuted, he did so alongside four other draft picks made by Elias and Mejdal: Adley Rutschman (2019), Gunnar Henderson (2019), Colton Cowser (2021) and Jordan Westburg, who hit the game-winning homer at Fenway.
These five figure to be joined in the next couple seasons by the likes of Kyle Stowers, Heston Kjerstad, Connor Norby and Coby Mayo. Not far behind this group is Samuel Basallo, the first major score by Koby Perez as director of international scouting. Basallo could very well be the No. 1 prospect in the game by next spring.
Sure, with the position the club had in their first few drafts, Elias and Mejdal were situated to do very well. But it’s not always a given. Go back to 1999, when somehow the Orioles had seven first-round picks and scouting director Tony Demacio almost went 0-for-7. Luckily, he took future Orioles Hall of Famer Brian Roberts as his seventh and final first-round pick.
What about the others?
Right-hander Mike Paradis, left-handers Joshua Cenate, Scott Rice and Rick Stahl and outfielders Larry Bigbie and Keith Reed were the other six first-round picks. Bigbie made the biggest impact in Baltimore, hitting .271/.335/.406 with 31 home runs in parts of five seasons.
Compare that to Rutschman, Henderson, Kjerstad, Westburg, Cowser, Norby, Holliday and Mayo.
There is a long way to go in 2024, and last night’s 7-5 comeback win is just that a single win along the way. But one thing is certain — Elias and his main man Mejdal are pretty good at making these draft picks.
Holliday’s promotion seemed to be made with the Prospect Promotion Incentive firmly on the mind of the Orioles’ brain trust. PPI gives teams an additional pick immediately following the first round if a player they bring up early in the season wins Rookie of the Year.
So while Elias and Mejdal might again cede the spotlight until the 2024 draft cycle kicks in, April 10 was a night to salute them for an amazing job done creating this potential monstrous era of Orioles baseball.
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox