Former No. 1 overall pick and top Baltimore Orioles prospect Jackson Holliday went nuclear against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and two RBI. It was arguably his best game in the Majors to date, and proof of why hopes remain so high around the 21-year-old middle infielder.
Holliday was blunt with reporters after the game, which featured an astounding 11 combined home runs between both teams (including an MLB-record 10 solo bombs, two of which came courtesy of Holliday). The O's second baseman was extremely casual when describing his big night.
"It was kind of like everyone was throwing punches," Holliday told reporters afterward. "Not trying to move the ball forward, but just trying to put good swings on it. However I feel when I’m feeling smooth and free to deliver a good swing is kind of how I’ve been going about it."
That reads as a thinly veiled warning to the rest of MLB: This is what Holliday does, and nights like these will only become more common with age and experience against big-league pitching.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.
Jackson Holliday casually waves off monster two-HR games for Orioles
It has thus far been a highly encouraging sophomore campaign for Holliday. He struggled mightily as a rookie (.565 OPS), but began to show signs of life late in the season. Now he's in breakout mode, with a .783 OPS, four home runs and 11 RBI through 28 games and 88 at-bats. He is more or less an everyday player at this point.
While not quite on the level of full-blown stardom some fans hoped for, it's helpful to remember that Holliday is — again — 21 years old. Sports fans are not always the most patient bunch, but hitting a baseball is arguably the single greatest challenge in professional athletics. It takes time for players to adjust to MLB pitching and establish a baseline of comfort.
Of course Holliday struggled when first thrown to the wolves, but he looks more comfortable with each passing game. His two-home run outing on Sunday reads as an aberration in the broader arc of Holliday's career, but think of it as the beginning of an upward trend. We know the talent is robust. Now he's figuring things out, and carrying himself in the level-headed way all great stars do.
It would be natural for Holliday to take a more celebratory approach to questions about such a prolific outing at the plate, but he's not getting too high (or too low). Sunday's offense-forward affair was, in his own words, an instance of two heavyweights trading punches. Holliday happened to get a couple good ones in.
This has been a nightmare season for the O's, a team with so much promise but so little follow-through from the front office. Absent their ace of yesteryear, Corbin Burnes, it's clear Baltimore cannot support its potent offense with such a flimsy pitching staff. There is a lot for this front office to work out, but MLB fans should be weary of what's still to come.
Few teams are brimming with so much young talent, though. Gunnar Henderson is already a perennial MVP candidate. Adley Rutschman has better days ahead. And Holliday, once it all clicks, threatens to be one of the very best middle infielders in the sport.
Brighter days are right around the corner, O's fans. Chins up.