Orioles: No wonder Jackson Holliday is off the table

The Baltimore Orioles are looking to add at the MLB trade deadline, and Jackson Holliday is proving why they should never consider dealing him to a new team.

It was only a matter of time before the Baltimore Orioles reached this point. They were stuck in a rebuild following their time as postseason contenders in the early-to-mid 2010s. But with stellar scouting and drafting, the Orioles developed one of the best farm systems in the game, and those young prospects are on the major league roster, contributing. Entering July 27, the Orioles are sitting in first place in the AL East with a 62-40 record.

With the trade deadline taking place on Aug. 1, the Orioles are in a prime position to be buying. They have shown they were serious, as they reportedly called the Los Angeles Angels about Shohei Ohtani before they opted to keep him for the remainder of the year. Teams are going to be salivating if the Orioles call, considering the plethora of young players across the organization.

But Jackson Holliday should be off-limits.

Holliday is currently in Double-A playing for the Bowie Baysox, and on July 26, recorded his sixth multi-hit game at that level of the minor leagues. Oh, and he’s only played 10 games.

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Orioles: Jackson Holliday is raking in Double-A

There’s a reason why the Orioles selected the shortstop and son of former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Matt Holliday with the first-overall pick of the 2022 MLB Draft. Why on Earth would they consider trading him? The thought becomes that much more puzzling when looking at his stats in the minor leagues this season.

This year, Holiday has played at three minor league levels, and he has been doing spectacularly when stepping into the batter’s box.

• Single-A: .396 batting average, .522 on-base percentage, .660 slugging percentage, 2 home runs, 16 RBI, 15 runs scored, 21 hits, 13 strikeouts, 14 walks in 53 at-bats (14 games)
• High-A: .314 batting average, .452 on-base percentage, .488 slugging percentage, 5 home runs, 35 RBI, 52 runs scored, 65 hits, 54 strikeouts, 50 walks in 207 at-bats (57 games)
• Double-A: .357 batting average, .400 on-base percentage, .524 slugging percentage, 1 home run, 2 RBI, 6 runs scored, 15 hits, 7 strikeouts, 3 walks in 42 at-bats (10 games).

The Orioles have seen promising call-ups from their top prospects, such as catcher Adley Rutschman and third baseman Gunnar Henderson. Orioles fans can’t wait until the day that Holliday receives his call to play in the majors.